Black
by Golden Lunar Eclipse
Summary: The TR Boss sets in motion several plans that affect the TR we know, and everyone they come in contact with. And what has happened to Meowth? The plot darkens with each experiment... an AU fic. DONE. Writing level improves drastically after the beginning.
1. Plans

A/N – ok, I decided to post this one since it's been in the process of being created for more than 5 years. Suffice to say, the characters and location on Pokemon has changed since then, but I still think this was one of my more exciting stories and so I am adding it. Note that it is set sometime during the Johto season as a "lost adventure" or "alternate reality" type thing. Heh, you might even be able to tell which parts of this story were written a long time ago, and which were written a little more recently. I have planned 10 chapters, it is still incomplete, but I will get there eventually, if you so wish it. I don't own Pokemon, yada, yada. I hope you enjoy.

-(-)-

Black

Chapter 1: Plans

It was a sunny day and a light breeze brushed through the trees of the forest. Everything seemed calmed and quiet as if there wasn't a care in the world. But in this forest, three excited and anxious voices were discussing preparations for a dangerous and unacceptable act about to be committed.

"We've really done it this time guys," said a cat-type pokemon to its two human companions. "Dis is da best plan we've evah had!"

"I know! It's unbelievable!" exclaimed a young man with longish blue hair and bright green eyes.

"It's not that unbelievable," argued a young woman about his age, who had flaming red hair and deep blue eyes. "We were bound to come up with something good after all these years!"

"But something dis good – I mean, I agree wid ya, Jess, it's just, sometin' ain't right!"

The Meowth's eyes looked directly into those of the woman named Jessie with such seriousness that she stopped what she was doing to take it all in.

"I suppose we did have a little help, and we also used all the knowledge we have to put it together, if you're saying that's not right, I understand, but all-in-all I think that for once we got something right. Don't fret about it."

The man, who listened to the conversation of his teammates quietly, suddenly let out a tiny yelp.

"What's wrong, James?" said Jessie exasperatedly.

"The – the twerps! They're coming this way!"

"Darn! We haven't had enough time to set up our plan. It can wait though, we'll just have to try and catch Pikachu the old-fashioned way now!" Jessie led her friends up a tree, ready to pounce on the kids headed towards them.

"Look at that, Pikachu! There's a berry tree up ahead. We'll just have to go get some," said a boy to his Pikachu quickening his pace.

"Slow down, Ash! What's the rush? We've got all day…" a red-headed girl spoke from beside him, trying to keep up.

"Aww, but Misty, Pikachu and I are hungry," Ash replied.

"Let him go, Misty. You can help me figure out this map," said an older boy from Ash's other side.

"Don't tell me we're lost again!" expressed Misty in an annoyed voice.

"No, no, I just can't find where we are on the map!" said the boy.

"Oy, Brock! Ok – give it here," sighed Misty taking the map from his hands.

Ash and Pikachu started a run for the berry tree, leaving behind Misty, Brock, the map, their worries, and soon, their hunger. But, before they got within 5 feet of the tree, two people and a pokemon – Meowth – landed in front of him and he lost his balance and fell. They scooped up Pikachu in a rubber bag and started to recite a poem known to everyone present as 'Team Rocket's Motto'.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Wobbu-"

"Uh! Meowth! Dat's right!"

As they finished, they struck a pose and a huge red "R" appeared behind them with a background of galaxies.

"Thanks for the Pikachu, we'll be going now, 'bye!" Jessie said in a rush as they dashed away.

"Hey! Team Rocket! Give back Pikachu!" yelled Ash.

"Sorry, we're in a bit of a hurry! No time to chat today!" replied Jessie as they headed towards their balloon.

The balloon took to the air, Jessie, James, Meowth, Wobbuffet, and Pikachu safely on board.

"You're not going to get away with this!" shouted Misty up to them.

"We'll just see about dat!" Meowth answered back.

"Grr! Noctowl, GO! Bring Pikachu back to the ground!" ordered Ash as he threw a pokeball.

In a flash of light, Noctowl appeared and took off to the sky. The bird-type punctured the balloon so it fell down. Brock released a pokemon, Onix, and it grabbed onto the balloon's basket, tilting it to the side. Team Rocket screamed in surprise and fright and in their bewilderment dropped the rubber bag that held pikachu.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, startled by the jolt of being thrown forwards.

Noctowl swooped down, grabbed the rubber bag that encased Pikachu in his beak, flew towards Ash and tore the bag, freeing Pikachu, as they came within arm's length of Ash. Ash caught his favourite pokemon and smiled with glee at being reunited. Then he turned to glare at the flustered bundle that was Team Rocket.

"Pikachu! Give them what they deserve! Thunderbolt, now!"

"Pika!" Pikachu seemed to say 'with pleasure' as it jumped towards the disordered Team Rocket. "CHU!"

A large current of electricity emitted from the tiny rodent, shocking the pokemon thieves and sending them soaring through the air.

"Team Rocket's Blasting Off Again!" "Wobbuffet!" the four exclaimed as they twinkled in the distance.

"They never learn," commented Misty.

"Yeah, you'd think that one of these days they'd realize they were no good at stealing pokemon and try to find something they're better at, like, oh I don't know, selling ice cream and hot dogs, or reporting the news," said Brock thoughtfully as he remembered some of Team Rocket's more successful disguises.

"Yeah, I suppose," Misty agreed.

At that moment, Ash's stomach rumbled loudly, and he looked from his stomach to his two friends, sweat-dropping.

"Uh, guys? Can we get something to eat?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course," sighed Misty at Ash's unending hunger.

"Hey!" declared Brock. "I know where we are! There's a Pokemon Center on the other side of that hill, according to this map! Let's go there and get us some lunch!"

The others concurred with his plan quickly and they started walking to the hill.

_Two people were talking in hushed voices. They were in a dark room in a place hidden from the world. Their discussion was about plans to commit the crime of robbery._

"_That's a neat concept!" one praised the other._

"_Yes, do you think it's possible?" the other replied._

"_Anything's possible if you put your mind to it," the first said with confidence._

"_Too true. I wonder, who do you think we should test it on first?" the second voice asked._

"_Oh, I have a fairly good idea on which of our _friends_ would like to try it out," joked the first._

"_Oh yes," the second laughed. "They'd be _perfect_!"_


	2. Shooting Star Begins

Black

Chapter 2: Shooting Star Begins

After a big meal at the Pokemon Center on the other side of the hill, Ash and his friends continued in their travels towards the next big town. On their way, they met up with a couple of pokemon trainers headed in the opposite direction. Ash, of course, had to battle with them, and Pikachu brought him two more victories.

"Good battle!" Ash and his opponents congratulated one another as they parted ways.

They spent the night in the woods. It had become somewhat cloudy late in the afternoon, and by nightfall, was raining lightly. But our heroes were comfortably dry in the small cave they found in the side of a hill. Brock cooked up an excellent dinner and all three were quite content when they eventually curled up in their sleeping bags to rest for the night.

They woke up early the next day and started their travel to the next town. No one spoke because it was such a beautiful day. They enjoyed the wonderful feeling of walking through the woods, hearing the singing of the bird-types and the whispering of the wind, seeing the rays of the sun filter through the leaves, and catching a glimpse of a few white clouds in the sky. The forest smelt damp after the rain that fell the previous night, and it seemed to be brimming with life. There was something to be said about being traveling pokemon trainers; they certainly got to experience a number of great events, but one of the best things about their way of life was the freedom they had. Such an extraordinary feeling it was to go and do what they wanted to do, to be who they wanted to be, to think what they wanted to think.

They found a clearing around midday and stopped there for lunch. They had a short argument on seating arrangements, ate then left on their way for the next town.

Arriving there at about three o'clock, Ash and his friends were met with emptiness that shouldn't exist in a big town such as this was. But they discovered a huge commotion around the center of town that had brought most people away from their homes and shops on the outskirts. The police and fire departments surrounded a small building.

"Huh?" the three questioned together.

"What's going on here?" asked Ash to an officer hurrying towards the scene.

"There's a robbery in progress," she said as she passed them.

"Oh." The three friends turned to look at each other, then they followed the officer.

In the center of the commotion stood two dark figures with two large bags slung over their shoulders.

"Team Rocket!" the kids exclaimed when they saw the faces of the thieves.

"We should've known!" Ash said.

"What're you up to this time?" asked Brock.

But instead of getting their usual, relatively friendly response, Ash and his friends received cold, empty stares from the criminals.

Not only was this strange, but their outfits were quite different from normal. They were all black, with black leather boots and gloves. The usual "R" was thinner and in a deep blood red. There was a small pin on both uniforms in the upper left corner, which was navy blue and dark purple, but illegible from far away, and Jessie's outfit was a short, sleeveless dress, much like Cassidy's, but with a few alterations. There was also something else… missing…

"Where's Meowth?" Misty asked, with a dark, yet still blank, gaze as a response.

"Stand back, please," ordered an officer from the twerps' left.

"Alright you two! Give it up! We've got you surrounded. Carefully place the bags on the ground, then raise your arms – slowly – in the air, and you won't get hurt," shouted an officer from the twerps' right.

But James simply nodded to Jessie and she took a black ball out from behind her back and tossed it on the ground. It happened so quickly that none of the officers had a chance to react. The ball set off an explosion of fog that covered everything in the area.

"The rise of Team Rocket has started. We will soon conquer the world," came Jessie's voice from a distance and it echoed off the surrounding buildings. When the smoke had cleared the villains were gone without a trace. No one moved for a moment in dumbfounded confusion and defeat. The first who spoke was Nurse Joy.

"You'd better start your search. There's nothing we can do just standing here."

A lot of movement and murmuring followed as people left the scene of the crime. The officers began preparations for their search, or "hunt", as some eager Jenny's put it.

"You need a place to stay? Come with me," said Joy to Ash and his friends. "I think we'll be allowed to use the dormitories. There is no evidence to find there. And it should be safe now that there's nothing valuable left to steal."

She sounded sad and strong at the same time. She must be upset that everything was stolen, but she wouldn't show how upset she was, just like Jessie…

The kids followed her to a side door. She opened it and let them in.

Once they were set up for the night, the three made their way to the cafeteria and found themselves a table. They sat down and began a discussion on the current events.

"That was really weird, guys," Ash expressed to his best friends.

"Pika," agreed his pokemon.

"I can't believe they actually succeeded!" Misty put in her thoughts.

"You know what has me worried?" said Brock. "It was the way they were acting, and the way they looked. Sorta like they were, I dunno, lifeless, or something. Like they were robots. But the strangest part, I think, is that it seemed like Jessie was taking orders from James. That couldn't be, could it?"

"I didn't even notice that!" exclaimed Ash. "I just thought it was really creepy, the way they were all dressed in black and weren't messing up at all. It's like they finally became hard core criminals."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Misty. "Do you think that it was really them? That someone didn't just disguise themselves to look like Jessie and James? That might explain why they didn't have Meowth with them. I mean, how many talking Meowths are there?"

"That could be, Misty, but we heard Jessie speak, and that definitely sounded like her, however _eerie_ her voice was," reasoned Brock.

"Maybe they were cloned," suggested Ash. "We know that Team Rocket has cloning capabilities."

"But on humans?" Misty questioned.

"Maybe they do now," responded Ash.

"I don't know. I got the feeling it was really them, but that they were… _different_," declared Brock.

"What do you think, Brock? There's something about this you're not telling us," pursued Misty.

"I guess that I think this is bigger than just Jessie and James. They were wearing new uniforms; uniforms that looked like most of the other Rocket member uniforms that we've encountered. Actually, Jessie's reminded me of another pair we've dealt with in the past – Cassidy and Butch. But, I don't know how this change occurred in them and to what extent and purpose. It seems that Jessie and James have suddenly become more serious about pokemon thievery, and what scares me the most is how many other Rocket members might have the same revelation. Maybe they've started a new training program that turns them into real thieves. I just hope that Officer Jenny catches them before they ruin more pokemon lives and Pokemon Centers like this one."

The friends remained quiet after this last statement. A little while later, Nurse Joy came in and broke them from their contemplative silence.

"Are you children hungry? It's so late, I'm sorry I haven't been around. Looking with the Officer Jenny's for evidence other than the broken window to the side room and the blasted door to the pokeball room, I lost track of time. I can have Chancey get you a dinner made in 10 minutes if you'll wait here. Then, I suggest we turn in for the night. What a stressful day!"

The children smiled appreciatively and became eager to get some food into their empty stomachs.

Despite the turmoil of the day, all three kids slept soundly that night.

"Jenny! Jenny!"

"What is it, Michael?"

"There have been two more attacks."

"Similar to the first one that occurred here?"

"Yes, except that they were different criminals, but it happened in the same way. And they said the same thing – 'Team Rocket domination started'."

Officer Jenny sighed. She looked to her colleague, Officer Michael, and confirmed, "That makes a total of four, then. Any new evidence?"

Michael shook his head, "No."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," came Nurse Joy's hushed voice. "But I have three guests staying here, and you might wake them up if you don't lower your voices a tad."

Ash and his friends decided to reveal themselves. They had woken up when Officer Michael had come and overheard everything.

"It's alright, Nurse Joy," said Ash as he opened the door to their room. "We're up. Oh and sorry, Officer Jenny, but we sorta overheard what you were talking about."

Ash, Misty and Brock stepped out into the hall. They could see that a temporary 'search headquarters' had been set up in the Pokemon Center lounge.

"Yah, and we want you to know that we want to help you out in any way we can," added Brock advancing towards the female police officer and clasping her hands in his.

"Uh, thanks," said Jenny, momentarily puzzled by Brock's actions.

Misty just grabbed onto his ear and dragged him away, saying, "We know the first pair of thieves personally. They've been bothering us for the past few years. If there's anything you want to know that can help… although, I don't know how much we know about them anymore. They were acting different."

"Oh that's quite alright," said Jenny, regaining her composure of authority. "We have many officers on the case, don't you worry, kids."

The trio knew best then to argue, though they believed, based on past experience, that they could somehow help solve this case and catch the bad guys; however different the bad guys had become.

Meanwhile…

Somewhere, deep underground, in the lowest basement of a large building, many people were moving about, working hard. What was going on here was neither legal nor imaginable by the rest of the world. But concealed with many layers of secrets, the heart of this operation was growing stronger.

Among the busied people were two familiar faces. Still dressed in their new black uniforms, they moved cages with pokemon inside from one place to another. They moved quickly and quietly without messing up a thing, and they repeated this pattern over and over. No one paid much attention to them, nor did they notice that their eyes were blank, their faces expressionless (except for a slight downwards motion of the eyebrows), and even the form of their movement unnatural, almost robotic. The others in this place knew about this and didn't bother to look, for they were the ones who made it so. Still, there were a few, just as expressionless, just as emotionless, just as unnatural as Jessie and James. And all of them wore a pin, just like Jessie's and James's, that was a dark purple and navy blue. Written upon this pin were the words "shooting star" and a thin, black "R" decorated the center.

In another part of the complex, several floors up, in a room with test tubes and monitors and scientific equipment sat Meowth. He was in a cage similar to the ones Jessie and James were moving about below. He had just woken up and was trying to focus his eyes. He felt pretty groggy, but soon observed the room around him.

It was dark. The only sources of light were little lit buttons next to the computers, a line of light under the door to the hall, and the heart rate monitor on the far wall. But with Meowth's cat-like eyes, he was able to see a lot more than any human would in this room. And what he saw when he turned his head to view the tank on the counter next to his cage made him gasp.

"It ain't possible…!"


	3. Welcome to TR HQ

A/N – Thanks to Foxyjosh for reviewing. I wasn't sure anyone would read this, so I decided to post and find out. Here's the third chapter. Things are getting a bit more interesting, and there's more action to come. Hope you enjoy!

-(-)-

Black

Chapter 3: Welcome to TR HQ (Team Rocket HeadQuarters)

Ash, Misty, and Brock walked around the town, which was alive with rumors of the previous day's events. They passed by the baker who was telling her patrons that the robbers flew away from the scene of the crime and that's why the police haven't caught them yet. They passed by a craft shop keeper who told a small crowd gathered around his door that the thieves were part of an organization called "Ebon Rulers" and that they aimed to take over the whole region for trade and economic purposes. The stories were getting wilder and more unbelievable, yet even those who witnessed the event, which was the majority of the town, seemed to be taking in whatever story they heard.

Misty shook her head.

"Honestly! You'd think they were discussing the latest movie, or something, with the tales they're telling!"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Misty," said Ash. "You know how people like to talk about events that are out of the ordinary. And if anything, yesterday, at least for these people, was definitely out of the ordinary!"

"Hey! Check it out! The Police Station!" pointed out Brock enthusiastically.

"Eh-heh, uh Brock, if you're thinking Jenny really has time for your pathetic, I mean, your dashing love attempts, you need to get a reality check!" said Misty.

"Misty! What gives you the idea that I had any interest in a fine woman, such as Officer Jenny?" Brock said, trying to conceal his blush, but failing miserably.

"Gee, I dunno, Brock," Misty began sarcastically. "It might have something to do with the way you grabbed her hands this morning. Or perhaps it was just the fact that ANY Jenny makes you go gah-gah!"

"What are you insinuating, 'any Jenny'? I – "

"Sh! Guys! Did you see that?" interrupted Ash urgently.

"Huh? What?" whispered Misty.

"Behind the building. I saw something large and dark run into the forest."

Ash motioned with his hand for the other two to follow him around the side of the Police Station and into the forest. They didn't go far until they caught up with two figures walking through the brush in a somewhat mechanical manner.

Without thinking or telling the others what he was doing, Ash jumped out from behind a bush and confronted the two criminals.

"A-ha! Found you! Jessie! James! Give back the pokemon you stole!"

The two stopped and faced the twerps, blank expressions and stone cold eyes.

"You cannot stop us," said James in a very different tone than normal.

They turned to leave again, but before they could, and before any of the twerps could attempt to stop them, something unexpected occurred.

Jessie stumbled. A flash of pain swept through her, which became apparent by the expression on her face and her momentary dilated eyes, and in her head the voice of a little girl screamed '_Mommy!_' before going dark once more. She returned to her straight stance and blank look. This time, James released the black ball of smoke that allowed for their escape.

The twerps remained behind, coughing in the cloud.

"Oh no!" lamented Misty when the fog cleared. "They got away again!"

"Maybe not," disagreed Brock. "They weren't the only ones to disappear."

"What? Wait…Ash? Ash! What does he think he's doing?"

"I don't think that he is thinking, Misty. You know how he gets when pokemon are involved. Especially when the issue is that they are in danger."

Misty looked in the direction that the duo and Ash had vanished to.

"I just hope he doesn't get hurt."

"Me too, Misty. Me too."

It was tough for Ash, with his eyes streaming and his throat tickling from the smoke that he ran into, to chase after Jessie and James. But he made it, as did Pikachu, hopping off his shoulder and scampering ahead in hot pursuit of the thieves, who were running fast through the woods to some unknown destination. Pikachu came close to catching up to them, when they went behind a hill and were gone from view.

They made it to the pokemon drop-off and tossed the small bag of pokeballs they had acquired into a chute. Then, they headed towards the entrance to the underground building that was the Headquarters for Operation Shooting Star.

"Where'd they go, Pikachu?" asked Ash as he caught up.

"Pi pika!" said Pikachu flustered.

"What is this place?" muttered Ash as he stared out at a large grassy field. It seemed to him that there was something wrong with that field. Then he spotted it; the grass was new; sheets that had just been placed there in the past week or so, like the sheets of grass that are placed to form the lawns of new houses. "Pikachu, I think we found their hide out."

For the next few minutes, Ash and Pikachu searched the field for a way into the building they believed to be hidden there. Luckily for Ash, Pikachu was able to sniff it out (it was a very well disguised trap door of grass), but instead of going in first, he let Pikachu take care of the doormen on the other side. Then, Ash climbed in and cautiously headed down a long set of stairs into the main part of the complex.

"… which knocks everyone out for a couple of hours – plenty of time for us to get what we want."

"Wow! How did you make this 'weapon'? Who on earth thought it up?"

Meowth opened his eyes a tad to see the lab's lights were on and a scientist and his assistant were checking the monitors against the papers on their clipboards. Not wanting to attract attention to himself, Meowth quickly shut his eyes again and listened to the conversation intently.

"That's the funny thing. Who knew that a couple of pokemon thief flunkies would be the ones to think up and even plan out the creation of the perfect distraction? Well, I suppose everyone gets at least one good idea during their lifetime," the scientist said. "As for making it, it was fairly simple once we got the explosive devices to line up properly. However, we added something that wasn't on the original plans and that made it a bit trickier, but nothing as hard as the other two experiments we're running as part of this operation."

'Wait a second…' thought Meowth. Just then, the scientist's beeper went off.

"Oh great," he muttered as he looked at the text message. "See what I mean? There's a problem with one of the Rocket minions we're testing on. Grab a couple of those test tubes that we have in back-up storage. We can leave the charts for now, they won't be going anywhere. Hurry up. Charlie says it's urgent."

The door clicked shut behind the two men as they left the room.

Meowth opened his eyes fully and sat up in his cage. He was still for a moment as he thought things over. Then, he turned to look at the tank next to the cage, only to discover that its occupant was now fully grown and sitting in a similar cage.

Surprised, Meowth let out a tiny yelp, but tried to cover quickly by talking.

"So, I guess you're new around here?"

He was met with silence and a blank stare.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm on his lab partner's part, Meowth decided to keep talking to him; at least it gave him something to do.

"I saw you when you were dis big," he held his paws closely together to illustrate his point. "It's amazing what dese scientist types can do in a day, ain't it? My name's Meowth, by da way. I'm probably dee only talking cat-type dere is in da whole woild. Uh, do you got a name?"

Again, no response from the other.

"Okay, den. I suppose you're da strong silent type?"

Meowth was getting tired of his attempts to initiate conversation, and was actually glad to see the scientist return.

"Ah, I see you're up. Sleep well?" asked the scientist to Meowth.

"I guess, if you can imagine sleeping in any sort of cage and considering it a good sleep," replied Meowth.

"Ha, ha," chuckled the scientist hollowly. "I'm sorry I don't have much time to chat, I'm sort of in the middle of something. But I will give you an idea of why you're here." He looked meaningfully at Meowth.

"Ok den, spare me da details. What do you want wid me?"

"Now, Meowth, you have to understand something. It's not what _I_ want with you. We're doing this _for_ you, to make you stronger. The top cat of this team."

"I'm listenin'."

"When you learned how to speak – that amazing ability you have that sets you far above all other pokemon – you sacrificed your ability to gain levels and experience, to become more powerful, if you will, and thus you are not as far above all other pokemon as you should be. What we're proposing to do is help you reach your full potential in power, by fixing another glitch you have. You'll be strong, smart, and able to talk. That's all you need to be the best pokemon. What do you think?"

"Strong… smart… able to talk… da best pokemon… I tink I'm missin' sometin' here. Dere's gotta be sometin' wrong wid your proposition or else it's da best ting I've evah been offered!"

"Nothing's missing. I'm glad you like it. We'll get started right away at weeding out your one fault – the thing that's preventing you from gaining levels and evolving – as soon as I get back from checking on some other test subjects."

"Wait a second. Did you say 'evolving'? But dat would mean losin' my personality and becomin' a _Persian_," he said emphasizing his distaste of the word 'Persian'.

"A minor detail, I'm sure. You do want to reach your full potential, don't you? You're a pokemon – what need do you have for personality?"

"What need!" exclaimed Meowth in outrage. "My personality is who I am. Witout it, I'm not me! How could I enjoy being da best if I was not me? No tank you, I'd radder remain top of da bottom! My personality is da reason I can speak! And I like being more human den pokemon, for your information!"

The scientist sighed while placing his hand on his forehead. "I need to go now, Meowth. I was hoping you wouldn't complicate things for us, but… well, think it over. When I get back you'd better have made the right decision."

The scientist removed a needle from his desk and left the room once again.

"Can you believe dat guy?" Meowth commented to his silent lab mate. "I would never trade my personality for anyting in da woild."

Meowth looked over to the other cage. His lab partner turned away and lay down. Meowth grew curious about him. There were all sorts of tubes hanging from the ceiling that entered his cage and were attached to him. There was one particularly vile looking substance that was being transferred into his body through one of the thicker tubes.

Meowth didn't like the looks of it – a murky olive green. Without completely understand why he felt compelled to do this, Meowth reached a clawed paw out of his own cage and pricked the tube at the place where it entered his neighbour's cage. Nothing happened, but Meowth's intuition seemed satisfied and he decided to stop interfering with things he didn't understand.

The door to the room opened again, this time with caution.

"This looks like another lab room, Pikachu. Geez, how many do they have in this place? I guess there aren't any pokemon here, either. They must be keeping them somewhere else. I wish we could find out where already."

Ash gave a quick glance to the room and was about to move on when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

"Meowth? Is that you?"

"Who do you tink it is?" Meowth replied sarcastically, but he couldn't hide his gratefulness at seeing a familiar face. "D'ya tink dat you and da mouse could help me outta here? Only I got until da scientist gets back here before dey take away my personality to replace it wit power."

"Personality for power? That's crazy! How can you be you without a personality?"

"My point exactly."

"Okay, we'll try to help you out of there, Meowth. Any ideas, Pikachu? Do you know the combo for this lock, Meowth?"

"Do you tink I'd still be in here if I did? Oh, and dere's anodder lock on dis side, dat uses a key."

"This is harder than it looks," complained Ash. "But don't worry, I won't leave until I've gotten you out of here."

"You mean dat?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."

Meowth was going to say something else, but before he got the chance, the door opened yet again as the assistant entered.

"Hey, you!" he yelled, spotting Ash. "What are you doing here?"


	4. Freedom of Thought

Black

Chapter 4: Freedom of Thought

James and Jessie walked, mechanically, down a corridor in the great building complex. They were headed towards the elevator that would take them to the pokemon sorting zone – the place with all the cages – in the basement of the complex. Halfway down the corridor, Jessie stumbled.

"_Anything's possible if you put your mind to it," the first said with confidence._

_The two people stood in a dark room, discussing an experiment that the second of the two had come up with._

"_Too true. I wonder, who do you think we should test it on first?" the second voice asked._

_Butch looked Cassidy directly in the eyes and replied jokingly, "Oh, I have a fairly good idea on which of our _friends_ would like to try it out."_

"_Oh yes," Cassidy laughed. "They'd be _perfect_!"_

"_I agree," said a third voice as he stepped forward from the depths of the shadows that concealed him._

_Butch and Cassidy turned to face their Boss with amused expressions._

"_You mean, you're actually going to go through with this crazy idea?" asked Butch._

"_We weren't all that serious when we thought it up!" stated Cassidy. "It was just a sort of 'What If' scenario!"_

"_That is irrelevant. The point is, you thought it up, and I believe we can make it work. You forget that I have some of the world's best scientists on hand who can create almost anything I desire! It's an excellent idea. It will take some time for the scientists to create such a – 'potion', shall we call it – but it will be a great step towards world domination once it's complete. And I also agree that using Jessie and James to test it on is a good plan. If it doesn't work on them, it won't work on anyone! Good job, you two. You're dismissed."_

Jessie grasped at the wall beside her as she crumpled to the ground. James stopped his march to the elevator and stood like a statue, waiting for his partner to get off the ground and continue in their assignment of going to the basement to move pokemon cages. A slight look of disgust and annoyance crossed his features, if that was possible.

It felt like she'd just plunged into icy cold waters. She spluttered for breath and hugged her sides which heaved with pain. Then, it was like her mind turned on. There was a dull drone that muddled her thoughts.

'What's going on?' It was so hard to think. Processing that thought alone, weakened her almost to the point of exhaustion. Her eyes wouldn't focus, and she had no chance of using any of her other senses. 'Where – no, must choose thoughts carefully, since… can't… think…' She needed to remember who she was. She was Jessie, she knew that. Ok, Jessie, what were you doing before this? A faint image of the electric rodent swirled by her mind's eye. Then she remembered what had happened, why she was like this.

Almost immediately with this revelation, the murkiness overtook her once more. The drone buzzed louder, blocking out her thoughts, disconnecting her mind and body again. But it wasn't before she had one last, effective thought, 'I am Jessie. I know who I am. They can't keep that from me forever. I will get out of this. I… won't… give up…' And all went black.

"_Look who we found! They just fell out of the sky! Perfect timing, too!"_

_A Rocket Grunt held a fried Jessie and James by the collars of their uniforms. Another Grunt held a scruffy-looking Meowth and a burnt Wobbuffet under his arms. They were inside a building complex of some sort, and the room they were taken to was very dimly lit; colour was almost non-existent. Despite this, they could still recognize the red of the business suit of the Boss. He stood in front of them with an evil grin plastered across his face._

"_Well, well, well. What do we have here?" spoke the Boss in a calm, yet teasing, tone. "My, my, you don't look all that good. What happened? You didn't _lose_ in a battle, did you?" He didn't wait for a reply. "I haven't heard from you three in ages. That matters not, now, however. You are being given new assignments."_

_The trio looked up questioningly, and Wobbuffet spoke up their thoughts._

"_Wobbu?"_

"_Ur – get back in your pokeball," Jessie uttered quietly, slightly aggravated, and returned Wobbuffet to its ball._

_Giovanni seemed somewhat amused with this display and the smirk that was plastered to his face could only mean one thing. This gave our Team Rocket trio no comfort at all._

"_Lenny, please escort Meowth to Lab 3-11 and tell Bernard he can begin his new task now." The grinning face was turned to Meowth, who gulped as the Rocket Grunt holding him dragged him out of the shady room._

_The Boss turned his piercing stare onto Jessie and James._

"_You can be of use to me, after all these years of disappointment."_

_He nodded to a figure that stood almost completely hidden in the corner of the room. The person stepped forward and revealed himself to be a scientist, dressed in a white lab coat and holding a needle with a murky olive-green liquid inside. Jessie cringed as the contents of the needle were injected into her upper left arm._

_So many images flashed before her eyes it made her head spin._

_"Mommy! Don't leave, Mommy! I don't want you to leave."_

_"I'll be back, don't you worry, my darling, my Jessie. Now could you please give your mother a nice smile for the camera?"_

_"I-I c-can't stop crying! Why do you have to go, Mommy?"_

_"Oh, dear…"_

_"My name's Jessie."_

_"I'm James."_

_"Do you ever wish you could fly away, James?"_

_"All the time!"_

_"Me too! Hey! Do you want to pretend that we're flying?"_

_"I dub thee, 'Chainer Jessie'! And you, 'Trainer Jimmy'!"_

_"Meowth! Glad ta meet ya! I can tell dat we'll be great teammates!"_

_"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"_

"_Surrender now or prepare to fight!"_

"_Meowth, dat's right!"_

_"Pikachu! Thuderbolt, NOW!"_

_"Team Rocket's Blasting Off Again!"_

_The visions began to blur. All was murky as Jessie's memories were taken from her, to be replaced by a hollow drone in her mind. The droning was very obedient._

"Off-Officer Jenny!" Misty panted as her and Brock met up with the police officer.

Jenny turned towards the source of the voice.

"We saw Jessie and James again – and Ash, he, I think he's gone after them!" Misty expressed with worry.

"What? What's all this about?" questioned the officer.

"Please, Jenny, it's our friend, Ash. He's chasing after the criminals as we speak, and Misty here is afraid he'll get hurt. He's always jumping into things without thinking," explained Brock.

"Oh dear. Does he know what he's getting himself into? This is one of the biggest operations the Team Rocket Organization has planned in a year. We haven't been this busy since the Red Gyarados incidence."

"Jenny!" yelled a desperate voice.

"Yes, Michael?"

"All of our growlithe – the ones that were resting in the pokeball room at the police station – are gone! Stolen!"

"What!" Jenny exclaimed, angered. "Hey, you kids said you saw the thieves? And your friend is going after them? I knew it! I knew their headquarters must be somewhere nearby! Michael, tell everyone to get their backup patrol pokemon prepped. We're going to stop these thieves if it's the last thing we do!"

Jessie and James were once again in the lowest basement, moving the many cages of the incoming pokemon. There were more Rocket minions now who were under the influence of the olive green 'potion'. Among the new test subjects were the pair that devised the experiment's creation. Cassidy and Butch worked alongside Jessie and James, and moved, looked, and were the same way; unnatural, unfeeling, dark. This ironic turn of events did not deter the pair, as they were lost to clouded, obedient minds.


	5. An Old Friendship

AN – I forgot to mention this last chapter. Shouldn't the secret base have better security? It probably should, but when has that ever stopped Ash? As for the mystery Pokemon, you'll just have to wait and see on that… I will say though, it is a very important part of the story… now for more plots and cliffhangers…

Black

Chapter 5: An Old Friendship

Back and forth, up and down, mechanical, like a clock's 'tick-tock', the Rocket minions were hard at work. There was a greater income of stolen 'goods' than ever before, and it all needed sorting, moving, using. The pokemon complained when they first entered their cages, but by the time of their sorting, they'd all subdued, giving up on being let free.

All movement made by the Rocket test subjects was perfect. They were truly Giovanni's army; they would do _anything_ at his bidding. And overall, the experiment seemed to be working successfully. There'd only been a couple of instances of… drawbacks. But the scientists were able to repossess their command over the slip-ups.

Jessie, James, Cassidy, and Butch worked together, yet separately, as they took care of relocating the trapped pokemon. This was only possible because of their lack of emotion and perfect, individual movements, although they were all working on the same assignment. And they were like the others, heading back and forth, back and forth across the large room.

Without warning, the pattern was broken. Cassidy fell down, clasping the front of her suit. Her eyes dilated, her breath shortened with panic, and beads of sweat trickled down the side of her face. She couldn't think. Blurry images appeared in her mind and she couldn't tell if they were what she was seeing, or if she was dreaming; what was happening?

At about the same time, Jessie faltered and almost tripped over Cassidy. She slowly regained a bit of control over her thoughts and dropped in pain as she did so.

"Where – oh… I'm still trapped…" she panted as she focused all her energy to thinking.

Somehow, she couldn't understand how or why, Jessie had found her senses again. The room was blurry, the sounds of movement blended with the buzzing drone of the unnatural chemical in her mind, the ground was almost cold, almost smooth, and almost numb to her fingers, but with these added abilities, her mind grew stronger with confidence, fighting against the biologically engineered enemy present in her body. She heard it before her eyes detected the fuzzy picture of Cassidy sprawled on the floor beside her, fighting the same adversary with ragged breath.

"Heh… nice… to… see you… again," Jessie articulated as loud as she could muster, which wasn't all that loud. But Cassidy heard her.

Cassidy felt extremely weak and the blackness was threatening to overtake her once more, but she knew who she was as she suffered like this, and that was something she was afraid of losing. She heard Jessie speak, and was amazed that there was someone else with her. Or was Jessie watching her ache? Letting her mind wander to these thoughts almost let the droning take her away again, and she decided to keep her thinking minimal.

"Je-Jessie…?" she tried to say. It was so hard to keep her own mind and speak at the same time.

"Funny… the way… things turn out… sometimes… isn't it?" Jessie laughed softly.

Why was she laughing at their situation? It was _horrible_ to Cassidy that she ended up 'drinking her own poison', as they say. This feeling of anger developed within her and Cassidy became stronger. She realized that Jessie was using humour to do the same. Perhaps that's how Jessie was always able to keep her head, even when she was losing. What was it? 'The top of the bottom'? Her temporary free flow of thoughts slipped again and Cassidy refocused her energy to speech.

"W-what… what can… we do?"

Jessie listened, processed Cassidy's words, then thought of an answer. It was so tedious, but she wasn't going to give in to the drug.

"Stay… ourselves. Don't… let go… hope for… help… don't give up… and… maybe… we'll get… strong enough… to help… ourselves…" Jessie was fading fast with the incredible effort she was putting into her message to Cassidy. "Don't… give up… don't… don't… let… go…"

"As long… as… you don't… let go… either…" Cassidy confirmed with a hint of humour.

The two girls chuckled gently as they ended conversing, saving their energy for their inner battles.

-

"What is this?" Giovanni stood up behind his desk, walked around it and towards the four people who had just entered his office. Ash was pinned between the scientist's assistant and a Rocket minion who had a blank expression and an abnormally straight stance. Behind them was another Rocket minion, who looked a bit unsettled holding an expression of aggravation, and who was wearing charred clothes. In his gloved hands squirmed a distressed Pikachu.

"Sir, we found him sneaking around the labs on third floor," replied the assistant, Mark. "We don't think he got far enough to know what's going on, but he did get to lab 3-11…"

Mark stared at a spot on the wall to the right and down of where Giovanni stood, some guilt and apprehension written on his face.

"Here," said the expressionless Rocket Grunt in a monotonous voice, "We retrieved this from the intruder." And he placed Ash's pokeballs and pokedex onto the desk.

Giovanni gave a calculated stare around at each person present. Then he reached down and picked up the pokedex.

"_This pokedex belongs to trainer Ash Ketchum_," said the pokedex to the room at large when Giovanni prodded a button. He shut his eyes, clearly displeased. But before getting angry, he calmly asked in an authoritative tone, "How did you get in?"

Ash chuckled for the first time since arriving and then he spoke. "Guards going soft? Security lax? It was a piece of cake…"

Giovanni felt like yelling, trying to find the person responsible for this, to punish the one who was to blame, but he couldn't let his composure slip in front of a guest – how would Team Rocket look if its boss couldn't appear to be always in control of things? Bosses who blamed their underlings for mistakes were among the weakest, most incompetent type of people, and Giovanni would not stoop down to that level today.

"Lenny, once we're done here, would you please contact security and tell them I want a little chat, oh and to raise the defenses a bit."

The mechanical Rocket Grunt nodded.

"Now, now, child, what are we going to do with you?" Giovanni indicated to Ash. "Whether you've seen too much, or not much at all, I'm going to have to put you somewhere where you'll be out of trouble…"

Mark and Lenny's grasps on Ash tightened as they prepared to drag the whelp away. Realizing that, Ash began to struggle again and shouted at the Boss, "You'll never get away with this!"

"My dear boy, you can't even begin to comprehend the lengths to which I am venturing to ensure my success," stated Giovanni simply.

"Oh I understand alright," Ash retorted. "You're just going to ruin a lot of lives in the process. And for what? Power? Please – that's nothing. You're missing out on a lot if you think that power is the only thing that matters."

"We have very different opinions on the issue it would seem. Well, no matter. You'll see it from my point of view one day."

A confusion settled over Ash to this last comment. It sounded almost as if the Boss endeared him. Before he could think of anything else to say though, another person entered the room.

"Yes, Charlie?" Giovanni asked.

"Sherman wanted me to tell you that our side experiment is done and ready to go," he began immediately, "All the explosives are perfectly aligned. Bernard also says his main project is going well, and that it is ready for the training stage. I came here because we've had two more instances and perhaps you might like to see them, figure out what we should do with them… that experiment isn't as clean cut as it could be…"

Charlie was still standing in the doorway, a hurried manner set in his posture, as if there was little time for discussion.

Giovanni pushed back from his desk, sighed, then stood up.

"Fine, Charlie, I will be right there. Lenny, Mark, could you please take our guest here to the holding cells until I find better use for him, and then Lenny, you're to go to security, and Mark, you can return to Bernard. I'm sure you'll have some fun with that. Devon, take that Pikachu down to the loading zone and put it in a cage."

Giovanni and the others made their way out the door.

"Ok, Charlie, lead the way."

-

It was such a silly fight, if you really thought about it. A simple misunderstanding that had escalated into the hatred that it now is today. But was it really hatred or mistrust? Perhaps it was neither but an underlying jealousy from both sides. In any case, that bond of friendship it once used to be was no more and yet here they were, sprawled on the ground side by side, gasping in feverish delusions, and clinging to each other for support, lest they lose themselves forever.

It had been several long minutes since they spoke. And all they were aware of was each breath they took, their hearts beating too fast, and most importantly, that they had to do everything they could to keep their sanity, if you could call it sanity… waking up to this world full of pain, realizing that they barely had a grasp on who they were, dreading every moment, lying in fear, but knowing above all that they must never let go, never bow down to the enemy trying to steal their souls… if that's insanity, then so be it. Better to be insane than to be lost obeying all commands.

Unfortunately, with the amount of energy and effort it cost to retain that much information, there was no room to think up a way out of the situation. Here the truly insane reside, they would not give up even though they had no chance of finding an escape. Hope was all the power they needed to cling to, to save them. But time was not on their side – they would have to fall deeper before being able to reach back up again.

"Here they are, Boss," came Charlie's voice.

Jessie and Cassidy were two pitiful figures lying on the floor. Both looked to be in the worse shape. Giovanni towered over them.

"Well, now, what have we here? Another couple of slip-ups, eh?" he said staring down at them. He didn't know if they could hear, or whether they were aware of anything. It didn't really matter. His scientists would be able to perfect the 'potion', he was sure of it.

To his surprise, Jessie spoke up, "Bad day? …Heh… you… don't know… the worst… of… it."

"See what I mean, Boss?" Charlie said. "I saw them talking and I thought that perhaps the matter should be looked into. We're not sure exactly what kind of mental reaction they should be having from this, apart from obedience. It's supposed to work sort of like a sedative, but only on the mind. They aren't supposed to be thinking, dreaming, or anything. What's happening now means our calculations are off somewhere, and they could either be hallucinating or experiencing some warped form of pain. I've got the other scientists trying to work out the problem at the moment, and now that Sherman is done his side project, he'll be of great help for fixing this. You know how disorganized he can get, I'm missing some of his notes for the earlier attempts at creating the substance, and I think that maybe we'll have some luck by returning there to investigate. But don't worry, we will have this under control again in no time. It's probably just a problem with the concentration percentage. I just thought you'd want to know."

"Yes, thank you for keeping me informed," said Giovanni, staring curiously at the wretches at his feet. "Well, don't keep them waiting. They look dreadful in this state, I'm sure they'd be much happier to be back under the influence of my power again."

"Yes, Sir," responded Charlie as he took out two syringes and briskly did the small task.

Jessie couldn't feel the needle enter her upper arm. She couldn't feel the liquid quickly spreading along her veins and throughout her body. The only thing she could feel was her mind being ripped away from consciousness once more…

"_Miss Mary had a steamboat, her steamboat had a bell ding, ding. When Mary went to heaven, her steamboat went to hello operator, please give me number 9 and if you disconnect me I'll kick you from behind the yellow curtain, there was a piece of glass, when Mary sat upon it, she broke her little…"_

_Cassidy suddenly burst out giggling and stopped playing the clapping game with Jessie. Jessie herself fell to the ground in laughter. She looked up at the sky, and tried to see shapes in the clouds._

"_That was fun!" exclaimed Cassidy as she collapsed beside her friend._

_Jessie nodded in agreement, an innocent smile on her face. Then she took on a thoughtful expression._

"_What do you want to be when you grow up?" she asked Cassidy._

"_Anything? I want to be an astronaut, or a teacher, or a ballerina… or… oh, I can't decide!"_

"_I want to be a star!" affirmed Jessie._

"_Yah, that would be cool! I want to be a star too!"_

_The two friends sat talking for a while longer. The clouds shifted above them giving them different shapes to describe as they passed overhead, and constantly changing, like life itself as they would learn later on in theirs. Jessie glanced once more at the last shape she saw, a rose, before returning home from playing._

And all went black.

-(-)-

AN – a little disclaimer, though it is public material, I didn't write the childhood hand/clapping game that Jessie and Cassidy were playing… I remembered it (with some difficulty) from my childhood days. Anyways, now we're almost halfway into the story. The next chapter is going to be full of background information. I hope you guys are enjoying this. I really wasn't sure when I began posting whether it was worth it to post, but since I've got it started, and there seems to be some response to it, I will finish it. And besides, I'm having fun – that's all that really counts in the end, eh? Oh, and don't be shy to push that review button, I don't mind hearing what you think of my story, and I accept anonymous reviews too.


	6. Flashbacks

AN – I had written these flashbacks separately from the story, and then tried to insert them into the structure, without much success. I feel they are important for shedding light on certain aspects of the plans, but I haven't found a way to include them directly into the story, and therefore decided another chapter was needed. This chapter is a flashback chapter that sets the plans into motion. Note: they are not in chronological order.

Black

Inserted Chapter: Flashbacks

'_Yes,' thought Giovanni to himself. 'Jessie and James will make good test subjects.' He walked the edge of his bleak office and sat down in his great chair behind his desk. 'But what of their furry friend, Meowth? Yet another great idea comes to me with thought of his abilities… another two great ideas – for I can make use of him in more way than one. What if his talking and strategizing capabilities were transferred to another? There must be something biological about his way of speaking… and my scientists can clone things – why I never used that technology before, I'll never know… I'll create a super-pokemon, perhaps an army of them, and I'll start by cloning Meowth and his speaking capabilities – these pokemon will make excellent thieves themselves. But eventually we'll be doing more than petty robberies, we'll be taking control of each town and each region, till we have the whole world, till I have the entire world, bowing down at my feet. As for Meowth, I'm sure my scientists will find a way to make him more powerful, more obedient, and less clumsy. Once the 'potion' is ready for my obedient army of minions, for Jessie and James to try, I'll have my scientists start on cloning and improving Meowth, and creating the dark one. These are my plans for world domination. This time, no one will stop me."_

* * *

"_Why Butch and Cassidy too, sir? Weren't they the ones who came up with the idea?" Mark, assistant to the scientist Bernard, asked._

"_Yes, it is ironic, isn't it?" said Giovanni mockingly. "I suppose I feel the experiment is going so well, I want as many hands as I can get to be my perfect little soldiers. They are a good team, but not the best, and now they will be flawless forever. Tell Sherman, Bernard and the others to make as much of this substance as they can. I want most of the lower to mid ranking Rocket members under its control by the end of this week. Oh, and a couple of the higher ranks who have been having set-backs recently might also be of more use under its influence. I'll give you a list of names in those cases. Now, get back to work on the third experiment."_

* * *

"_Ah, Bernard. You're just on time. Sit down we have a lot to discuss. As I was saying to Sherman here, there are a lot of plans under way at the moment. You two have both been coming along well in the mind control experiment. It's been a month since the idea was formed, but Sherman tells me its near completion and ready to be tested. I have organized this meeting because I was hoping to have you get started on preparations for the cloning process. When we get our talking Meowth I want you to work as fast as you can. My mind-controlled minions will only be the first step towards ruling the world, and in a way, they are only a diversion, an appetizer, to the cloned pokemon you will be creating. Since you two are the head scientists of the Team, I will be giving you both a greater deal of control in overlooking the experiments. Sherman, you will continue to oversee the mind-control drug. Bernard, you will be in charge of the cloning process and let Sherman deal with the mind-control drug mostly on his own from here on in. You may want to give your assistants larger assignments; I hear that Mark and Charlie are quite competent. That is all I have for you for now. Any questions?"_

_The corrupt scientists shook their heads._

"_Good. You may go."_

_As they neared the door their Boss spoke up an afterthought._

"_Oh, one more thing; don't mess up."_

* * *

"_Bernard, Sherman! Are you both able and willing to undertake another task on top of the load you already have? Good. We discovered these plans for a weapon on the test subjects, Jessie and James. I am as surprised as you are that they could think up such a thing, but I want you to make this a reality as well. Oh, and add a little oomph to it, will you?"_

"_I'll do the job, sir. The mind-drug experiment seems to be running smoothly enough, and I know Bernard has a lot to do if he is going to have that Meowth cloned by tomorrow. My assistant, Charlie, can make sure nothing goes wrong while I'm working on the plans for this."_

* * *

"_Oh, Bernard. I'm glad you could come. Is there anyway you could figure out what's wrong with this? We've been trying so many times over – it just isn't working."_

"_Sure… oh, I see… the explosives aren't quite aligned. That should do it… there."_

"_Gee, thanks. I must be losing some brain cells, working so hard lately and not getting much sleep. I'm glad you could help."_

"_Is there anything else you want me to do?"_

"_What are you doing now?"_

"_Actually, I'm taking a coffee break. There's not much to do except for monitoring until the thing's finished growing… which should be in about three hours. I'm all yours till then, if you need."_

"_Great! We're supposed to be adding a few components to the original design of this product. I have a feeling it will be a bit tricky…"_


	7. Shooting Stars

AN – I should mention, before I get to the end, that this story has many layers of organized plot. I don't mean the obvious, that it has lots of plots, but that this story has been in the making for about 5 or 6 years, and that over that period of time, several different versions of the plot have been developed. I realize now as I reread some of the earlier chapters that some of the plot ideas I had when I wrote them and included foreshadowing in them did not quite make it to the latest version of the plot, which means, I'll have to make at least one more version to tie in all those lose ends. Darn for me…

Anyways…

Black

Chapter 6: Shooting Stars

The heart rate monitor on the opposite wall was doing its thing and beeping light at structured intervals. Boring. But apart from that, there wasn't much else to watch, and nothing at all to do. Meowth sat in his cage staring blankly out of it. That scientist had returned, but didn't mention anything to him about the personality 'deletion'. Actually, he wasn't even interested in Meowth. When he came in, he went over to check the Pokemon in the cage next to Meowth. He wrote some things on his clipboard, nodded while muttering in approval, and left, all the while the lab creature was sleeping soundly. Meowth glanced at him again, coming out of his trance. Nothing. Well, he guessed, sleeping was probably more interesting than sitting here. But Meowth was too restless to sleep. He gave an impatient huff and whacked his tail against the bars. He yawned and decided to file his nails on the metal. Ooo, the scratching noise was a little bit interesting…

His lab partner stirred, obviously disturbed by Meowth's attempt at captivating interest. He opened his eyes and looked into Meowth's. Meowth stopped what he was doing.

"I see you're awake now," he said. "Welcome to da woild of boredom."

The other just blinked. It was like he was considering him. Like he was trying to analyze him. Meowth began to do the same – studying this guy was the most exciting thing that had happened to him since the twerp was dragged away.

Meowth felt like he was looking into a warped mirror. The other Pokemon was a Meowth as well, except that he looked different, and he certainly acted differently. The other Meowth had red eyes, black fur, and a gray coloured tip of his tail. The only thing that was the same about him was his gold charm in the center of his head. He sat perfectly still and remained calm.

"So… have a good nap?" ventured Meowth after a few moments. The other merely blinked.

Meowth sighed, realizing he'd probably have as much conversation with the dark one as he'd ever had. But the monotony had gotten to him, and if he be the only one to speak, then so be it – anything but sitting back and staring at the lab. He racked his mind for a topic, but the only thing to surface, his anxiety, impending doom.

"As I was sayin' before, dere ain't nottin' better den havin' ya own personality. I really hope I wake up and discova dis was all a bad dream or a lame prank or sometin', 'cause I… well, it'd be like moideh! If dey stole my personality, dey'd basically be killin' me! I don't wanna die! I don't tink anybody does! And to have it taken from me like dat – it's just horrible."

Meowth made great gestures with his arms as he spoke.

"Especially to lose it to a _Persian_," he muttered in distaste.

His unenthusiastic audience merely continued to observe.

"Heya, dat young one, dee assistant, he called ya 'Black', right?" Meowth commented as he renewed his gaze in his lab partner's direction. "Black. Dat's not a bad name. Gives ya style, I suppose. Or, well, at least some colour. I only got Meowth, along wit all dee odder Meowth's dat don't gotta nickname. But, unlike dee odders, I'm dee only one who can talk. Reminds me of bein' top cat all oveh again. Sometimes I wonda what got me into dis in da foist place…"

Meowth's thoughts were pulling him away. Talking a monologue wasn't what he really wanted to do anyhow. And soon enough, he'd have lost his only audience member anyways. The scientist returned once more and was now taking Black with him. Meowth caught one mumbled word as the two left the room, Black in his cage looking unperturbed, "training".

-

"Ok, I've got the club sandwich on rye – that yours toots? And fish and chips for the mister. Enjoy!"

The waitress of the Diner placed each meal in front of her customers and hurried to fill the next order. Misty and Brock looked down at their food before digging in. They sat across from one another in a booth next to the window. After talking to Officer Jenny and getting her assurances that she would take care of the matter, they had nothing else to do but wait for Ash to return, having no idea where he ran off to. And then their grumbling stomachs gave them the perfect activity to pass the time, so they headed to the nearest food provider and waited to be served. And here they were, munching away.

They were both worried and didn't speak for a little while. They knew Ash could get himself into a lot of trouble if he wasn't careful, and they weren't there to help him out. But without knowing where to search for him, they couldn't do much else but worry. Worry and eat. Or, in Brock's case, worry and eat, and watch the pretty girls walk by.

But a disturbance in the center of town called them away from their thoughts and they went outside with the others to investigate. There were loud cracking sounds coming from the sky. And somehow, each bang emitted a pitch so that the whole time, a strange melody could be heard. Looking up, Misty and Brock also saw blinding flashes of light – fireworks. The music was drawing them in and the light was dazzling their eyes and then two more explosions changed the nature of the event. The first one sent a shockwave throughout the town and knocked everyone to the ground in unconsciousness. The second sent a spray of murky green substance upon the townspeople. Those infected by it followed the Rocket minions when they called, "Come to the Headquarters, Now!" Brock stood up stiffly, eyes blank, mind blank, and obeyed, leaving the town behind.

-

Ash was running hard, following the yellow blur ahead of him.

"_In you go, sonny," said Mark as he opened the door to a holding cell. Lenny had a tight grip on Ash's arms._

The trees were rushing past him in a green swirl and all he knew was that he had to move fast.

"_That's what you think," scoffed Ash. "My Pika-pal doesn't like it when his friends are in danger."_

"_What?"_

He was nearing the edge of the forest now.

"_Pika!" Pikachu sprang out of nowhere, a triumphant glare in his eyes, and he attacked the two Rockets with his electricity. Ash began to run towards the exit, knowing there was little time before the guards would be after him. Pikachu was in hot pursuit and the two made their escape._

The town's grey pavement came into view and Ash sped up. "I've got to get back, _now_!" he thought. All that he had seen, all that he had heard, he needed to tell the authorities. There were so many experiments going on, he had lost track, but none of them were good. He knew the location of their hideout and he'd heard something about explosives. On this point he was worried he might be too late. He ran through an alley and burst onto the main square of the town. To his bewilderment, he found everyone lying unconscious on the ground.

-

A few people began to stir, Misty among them. She opened up her cerulean eyes and looked around. Brock was nowhere to be found. She sat up, all alone, and tried to remember what had just happened. When she did a moment later, she stood up and rushed down the street to find others. An elderly woman she met up with cried that her son was missing, and a child complained that his older sister was gone. Misty scrambled through the small forming crowd until she found an Officer Jenny – apparently the only one left.

"Officer! My friend has disappeared!" Misty panted.

"Yes, I know, it seems that they've kidnapped a number of people. We've got to calm down though, otherwise nothing will be accomplished and they will have won."

Misty nodded and turned to look at the crowd. Someone's voice cut through the murmuring and caught her attention.

"Misty!"

It was Ash. She ran to him and hugged him.

"Ash! You're ok! I was so worried! They took Brock! Where did you go? Did you catch Jessie and James?"

"Whoa, Misty," he coughed. "Uh, could you… let go… suffocating…"

"Oh, sorry," said Misty as she released him and blushed.

Ash smiled at her, happy to have found her safe and sound. Then he faced Officer Jenny and spoke.

"I know where they went. I was inside their headquarters. And there's a lot of stuff going on."

"You were inside? Wait, is this the friend that went chasing after the criminals?" Jenny asked Misty.

She nodded.

"You're lucky to have escaped! You know that was very reckless of you?" reprimanded Jenny.

Ash hung his head, but a smirk was clearly visible on his mouth.

"Well, that's in the past now," Jenny continued. "We really need to gather ourselves if we're going to get our people back, and stop them from destroying this town."

"We're going to have to do more than that," Ash stated. "They're trying to take over the world. This is a war."


	8. Dere's Always a Choice

Black

Chapter 7: Dere's Always a Choice

_The two children were laughing as they raced each other to the bridge where they'd locked up their bikes and where they would be meeting the rest of their friends, their bike gang. Jessie outran James by a few inches, but both were in good spirits as they collapsed on the ground, panting hard, and smiling. They were the first to arrive for the day's activities so they sat back and relaxed a bit, looking down at the water._

"_Hey Jess?" James asked after a moment._

"_Yes?"_

"_We have a lot of fun together. I'm glad that I met you. I hope we can be friends forever," he said._

_Jessie's smile grew bigger and she looked at him sincerely. "Me too!"_

_But the memory was starting to fade… an image of Jessie in her rocket uniform… a fleeting thought from James as he gazed at her over a campfire, 'I take it back… I hope we can be more'… the Boss glaring angrily at them before ordering the injection of some needles into their veins…_

James had stumbled next to Butch as he carried one of the cages. The flashes of images that graced his mind only lasted a second, and the vile chemical regained control, throwing him back into the dark abyss of oblivion. He couldn't even hear his own mind screaming to recapture consciousness. The potion overpowered him.

The day continued for him as it had been going all along. Follow orders. Move the boxed Pokemon. Shift in stiff motion and unnatural posture. Back and forth as the clock ticked on to an endless time that didn't even exist in the realm that now became of James and the other lab rats used in this despicable experiment. Soon enough he and Butch were joined again by their partners, Jessie and Cassidy, who had been rested up and pricked with an even stronger dose than before, and who were fully willing and accepting of their duties.

Not only had the girls joined in, but a number of non-Rocket members also appeared to be helping out. Some were moving cages. Most were put on defense, and presumably this strategy would work to throw off opponents. Brock was somewhere amidst the kidnapped slaves, and there was no chance he could think for himself. He stood ready to obey any order he received.

Meowth woke up. His little cat nap did some good; he felt rested and he'd found a way to pass a couple of hours without boredom… the world of dreams could sometimes do that for you, though as the light filtered through his eyes, and as he slowly opened them to take in the now-familiar surroundings, his memories of them began to fade until they were out of grasp. But that didn't matter now. His stomach grumbled.

He heard an impatient huff from next to him on the counter. Black was back, and staring at Meowth with a superior glint in his eyes, well, just barely. And strangely enough, he looked liked he'd gained a little more muscle too, if that was possible in the short amount of time that he was gone. Meowth was going to ask him about it, but a question was asked to him instead.

"Ah, Meowth. Perfect timing. I was just going to wake you. So, have you thought about what I asked you before?"

It was the scientist named Bernard, as Meowth could see the tag on his white lab coat. The scientist grinned and moved his arms airily about the room, repositioning test tubes, gathering some metallic utensils and placing them on the counter, and scribbling notes on a clipboard as he checked various monitors and instruments. Once he finished with his tasks and preparations, he returned his full attention to the lighter of the two caged Pokemon.

"Ready to become everything you ever wanted to be? To gain the power we all know you deserve?"

Meowth hesitated. "Well, you see, da ting about dat is, I just love my personality too much to part wid it. You seem like a reasonable guy," _I hope_, thought Meowth. "Would you be easily as willing ta give up all you know, feel, like, and believe? I mean, is it really worth it to have someting, dat yes I'll admit, you'd always been wishing for, yet at dee same time, not be able to enjoy it? To enjoy it as _yourself_?"

"Now, now, Meowth, these doubts are not very becoming of you," answered Bernard in a patronizing sort of way, still talking lightly as if this were a discussion about which movie they should go to watch on a Saturday afternoon and not the serious matter that it actually was. "I was rather hoping you would come around to see it our way. You still have a little time to think it over, but once Mark gets here, I hope you'll make the right decision. It'll be easier for all of us. Hmm, speaking of which, I wonder where Mark is. He's been gone an awfully long time."

He turned to face the door expectantly, as if at any moment now his assistant would be walking through it, ready to dive into the task at hand. But he stared in vain since the door stubbornly remained closed. He decided instead to busy himself once again with all the gadgets on the counter and the monitors on the wall. Meowth's stomach rumbled again, this time quite loudly that the walls in the opposite corner, if they had ears, would have heard it. Bernard looked at his test subject and gave him a half-smile, half-sympathetic look.

"Hungry? Well, then, perhaps we shouldn't wait any longer for my assistant to arrive. We can't operate on you with a full stomach, so you'll just have to make due for now. Drink some water if you wish."

"Look, uh, Bernard. I'm glad you care and all about my gettin' powerful, but da ting is, I've _made_ my decision. It ain't gonna happen. Just leave me as I am, or better yet, release me from dis cage. I wouldn't mind seein' Jessie and James again."

Bernard's smile faded for a fraction of a second, but he recovered quickly and said, "Oh, Jessie and James have been reassigned. They're working on a new project now, and they seem to be getting along quite well without you. In fact, I think they're being the most productive that they've ever been in their entire lives up to now." He chuckled a little at his words. "And, you know, you never _really_ had a choice to begin with. So, let's not make this complicated."

Meowth didn't notice that as Bernard spoke he was preparing a syringe that he now held in front of himself as he neared the cage, keys for the locksdangling from his other hand.

"You're wrong." Meowth answered quietly.

"Wrong? About what?"

"You don't get it, do you? Dere's always a choice," Meowth replied, part of him hoping it more than believing it. "And I've made mine."

"Always a choice?" Bernard repeated, confused. "So you're saying, and I really wish it doesn't come to this, that if we have to strap you down and force the operation upon you that you will _still_ have a _choice_?"

"I'm glad you're following. Dat's exactly what I'm sayin'." Meowth started to ramble, winging it, but immediately realizing that all of what he said was true, and deep down, he knew it all along. They couldn't take this from him. "Even if you strapped me down, I still have a choice. I don't have to go down as a broken Pokemon giving up dere soul to da dark. I can still choose to feel what _I _wish to feel. Till my last breath, I have a choice."

"You–" began Bernard waving the needle threateningly, but a cool female voice interrupted him from the PA system.

"All personnel, please stand guard," she said crisply and left it at that.

After a momentary confusion, Bernard's entire composure changed. He took on a more defensive stance, putting down the needle and quickly clearing some items on the counter by tossing them into a drawer, along with his clipboard, and locking it with a key. He pulled back his white lab coat to reveal a set of pokeballs clipped to his belt. He glanced around the room rapidly, going over a mental checklist, his eyes lingering for a fraction of a second on Black but settling at last on the door.

In another part of the complex, there was a commotion going on. The team of Ash, Misty, Jenny, and a few other citizens from the town had broken through the defenses and were making their way down to the lower levels as quickly as they could. Officer Jenny may not have had her faithful Growlithe with her (he had been stolen with the rest from the Police Department's Pokemon Recovery Room), but she did have a couple of tricks up her sleeve. Her Haunter proved quite useful, especially since the band of them was being blocked more often than not by their own fellow citizens who were undeniably possessed by whatever chemical Team Rocket had forced on them. Haunter used its hypnosis to set them all to sleep before they could attack. They were headed towards the Boss's office, but due to more rigorous protection the closer they came, they ended up ducking away and trying to find a different route, taking a detour, and running away from their pursuers. With Ash in the lead, they found themselves projecting towards the lab rooms section of the base. And instead of getting them lost further, Ash led them to Lab 3-11, sure enough bursting into the room that held Meowth, Black, and Bernard.

Time stopped as they all stood facing each other, panting breaths caught in the throats of the intruders. Bernard reacted first and reached to the other side of his belt that was hidden from view of Meowth. Suddenly, the room was filled with smoke and everyone was coughing, their eyes streaming. There was the sound of small metallic objects hitting against one another, like a set of keys, or locks or chains against a cage, then hurried footsteps and the creak of a door on its hinges. Then a voice that did not belong to Bernard, echoing and moving fast away, "Do not follow us if you wish to live."


	9. Madhouse

AN – first of all, I want to thank you Foxyjosh for being the awesome reviewer that you are! I really appreciate it. Second, I'm aiming to finish this story by mid-February, before I leave for Reading Break. I wouldn't mind a few more reviews. According to the hit count, there have been over 300 views of this story, and yet I haven't even gotten one review per chapter. So all of you who are reading this, I'd just like to know if I'm doing alright or whatever. Thanks.

Warning: this chapter has a couple of battle sequences, and a somewhat rough fight scene between humans.

-(-)-

Black

Chapter 8: Madhouse

When the smoke had cleared, two things became apparent: one that Bernard and Black were gone and the other that there was a presence at the door behind them (since they had inched towards the center of the room during Bernard's escape act). They turned around to face the opening through which they came and gasped at who stood before them. Brock gave no indication of recognition; in fact, it didn't take him long before he'd released a Pokemon and was ordering an attack.

"Houndoom!" it howled and spit fire from its mouth to Pikachu, the only other pokemon in sight at the moment. Pikachu dodged it by reflex, though the flames only narrowly missed as Pikachu had been taken by surprise. The bottom drawers in the counter had their outsides charred a little. The others stared, their minds racing. Brock was holding a black pokeball and he didn't _own_ a houndoom. That could mean only one thing – he was using Team Rocket pokemon (probably stolen) and they didn't know what else could come from him.

"Pikachu! Counter its attack with a quick attack of your own!" cried Ash, jumping into battle mode.

Pikachu complied immediately and went hurtling into the dog type pokemon, sending it back against the wall.

"Officer! Please end this quickly and get Haunter to use hypnosis!" one of the townsfolk begged.

"I can't!" replied Jenny. "Houndoom's a dark type, hypnosis won't work on it. In fact, sending Haunter to battle it at all is a bad idea since most of its attacks won't hit and those that can will have little effect against it."

Houndoom had gotten back up and surged forward to bite Pikachu, who in return shocked it with a thunderbolt attack. Pikachu continued even after Houndoom had released it and succeeded in paralyzing it with electricity. Brock recalled Houndoom and sent out Sneazel instead. But before either Pikachu or Sneazel so much as growled at one another, the door burst open again.

Cassidy strode across the room, muttering "Come" to Brock, snatched the cage with Meowth inside, pulled back a cabinet which squeaked on rusty hinges, then disappeared down a secret passage behind it. Brock followed before any one else reacted, Sneazel already recalled to the unnatural pokeball.

Ash, Misty, Jenny and the others hurried forwards into the dimly lit passage and were faced with a long stairway. They could hear footsteps echoing from below and rushed to the downwards staircase. The ceilings were low, the walls were white, and the steps themselves hard grey concrete. Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder raced along ahead of the others, desperately trying to catch the two, and to save Meowth. Every couple of landings or so, there'd be a tight hallway or door leading to some other part of the complex. A few floors down from where they had started, a hand came out of nowhere and pulled Ash in through a door, shutting it quietly behind him. The others continued to follow the sound of Cassidy and Brock's footsteps, having been too far behind to notice that Ash was no longer with them.

"I think they're leaving this stairwell," Misty said to Jenny. "Hear that?"

The footsteps from below had died away, leaving only theirs and the sound of their heaving breathing. A door had been opened violently and slammed against a wall, and no noise indicating it being shut again was heard. They just had to get to the open door.

"Yes, we're not that far behind! They're not going to get away from us that easily!" Jenny exclaimed.

As Misty was turning around another bend, Jenny yelled out, "Wait! This way!" and took off along a crowded hallway towards the open door. The others followed with Misty at the back. She had to squint her eyes a few moments when they'd made it through the doorway for the light of the room they'd entered was bright compared to the secret passage. And when her sight finally focused, she uttered a little "Uh, oh" and began to back up towards the passage again.

"Thought that was funny, didn't you?"

Mark was lifting Ash up by the front of his collar, their two faces only inches apart. His hair looked fried and his clothes a little burnt from the earlier douse of premium Pikachu electricity. He threw Ash down onto the floor giving him a death-glare.

"You're going to pay for that," Mark said and kicked Ash in the stomach.

Ash rolled over gripping his sides and tried to get up. Mark decided to help him to his feet, only to begin a boxing round, punching Ash on his head, chest, stomach, any available flesh. Ash covered his face with his arms and tried to dodge the attacks, or at least back away to make them less painful.

"No!" Ash managed to bellow before Mark got him back down onto the ground.

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked in sympathy for its master. Unfortunately for the mouse, it was preoccupied in a battle of its own, and couldn't help Ash out. That moment of condolence for Ash was all Pikachu could afford as the Onix it was battling tried another slam attack. Pikachu scurried to the other side of the room in attempt to escape. The room they were in was one of the training battle arenas, and suited the match perfectly. Onix came charging at Pikachu again, and this time caught it in a wrap attack. Pikachu used a thundershock out of habit, though realizing long before it even started to send out the power that it was pointless.

Ash was getting beaten up pretty badly. He was developing bruises everywhere (especially on his protective arms), the right side of his stomach particularly hurt, and his lower lip was cut and bleeding. Being much smaller than the guy who was assaulting him, acting in defense was all he could do. There was no time to think of a way out of this or a strategy for fighting back. The only thing left was to gut it out on instinct.

The room Misty and the others had entered was the largest one in the building. It was the room that held all the cages, had a high ceiling, and had balconies from different levels looking into it. In fact, they were on the second level of this room, a ladder down to the lowest level near the balcony ahead of them. But between them and the balcony stood Brock and Cassidy and several other Rockets and townspeople. They were surrounded. Jessie, James and Butch were standing behind them, blocking the way back into the secret passage.

"Bad luck," mumbled Meowth to himself from his cage on the floor next to Cassidy as he stared at the group that he hoped could save him.

None of the minions spoke. They could almost pass for statues the way they stood, perfectly still and solid. Their expressions were blank, but their threat was obvious in their numbers.

Misty glanced sideways at the others with her and noticed immediately that one was missing.

"Where's Ash?" she whispered to Jenny, almost inaudibly.

Jenny stole a look around the circle and their tight-knit group, and muttered back, "I don't know, but I don't think we can worry about him now. It's probably the only thing we've got going for us, that he isn't here."

Then they stood silent, waiting for the verdict. They couldn't battle their way out of this one.

"Well, well, well. What uninvited guests do we have visiting today?" the sea of minions parted for the Boss Rocket, who was accompanied by the scientist Sherman and his assistant Charlie. Misty and Jenny shot him a defiant look, but kept their mouths shut.

"Welcome," Giovanni continued with a smirk. "Ah, I see we missed an Officer. I'm glad you could join us. This is a rather unexpected surprise, but no matter, I am willing to play host and entertain. For now."

He walked towards them, but the scientists stayed behind, closing the ring around the group again.

"Welcome to our humble abode. Well, I guess it isn't exactly all _that_ humble – this large room, the many labs and offices, holding cells, processing rooms, training arenas, etc, etc. The entire concept of this complex, and everything that went into it should be praised for its magnificent magnitude and secrecy. Ah, but I suppose we aren't quite as secret as we'd hoped to be, since you have found your way into out deepest bowels to join us here where we stand. You know what they say? Curiosity killed the cat. You shouldn't have come. You'd have been much happier not to have crossed me and involved yourselves in things that are beyond you! Now you must pay the consequences. You must have known once we'd surrounded you that you wouldn't be allowed to leave. I think we'll find some good uses for you." Giovanni turned to the side and faced one of the slaves. "Officer Michael, would you do the honours of injecting our 'potion' into these soon-to-be minions?"

The blank-eyed policeman stepped forward, a needle handed to him from Charlie, and he began to walk in that mechanical way towards the group in the center. _What do we do now?_ thought Misty desperately. _We can't attack him, and there's nowhere else to go! I don't want to become a drone!_


	10. Everything Black

AN – well, this is a long chapter. The longest chapter I have ever written for _anything_, in fact. Things are starting to wrap up. Only one more to go after this!

Disclaimer: I borrowed the term "nano-bots" from episode 31 of _Danny Phantom_, "Secret Weapons".

**Warning**: This chapter contains violence, death, and some graphic detail of both. I'm not sure if this is rated high enough at "T"; it may need to be upped to an "M" rating – please tell me if you think it should and I will change it accordingly to appropriate it to the right level – thanks.

Black

Chapter 9: Everything Black

"Haunter! Do it!" Officer Jenny's yell took everyone by surprise. In a flash her pokemon appeared and used hypnosis on the advancing Officer Michael, making him drowsy. He dropped the needle and fell to the ground, fast asleep.

"You _dare_ to defy me?" Giovanni hollered in outrage. With a motion from his hand, his minions and captured slaves all stepped forwards, closing in the circle as he backed away.

"Haunter, use shadow ball!" Jenny commanded. Her pokemon's attack was met with an equal blast of water from a warturtle that had been released from the opposition. "What are you guys waiting for?" Jenny hissed to her teammates. "We have to fight, there's no other way around this!"

Misty and the others startled into action and sent out their pokemon. In most cases, the trainers sent out more than one, trying to even out the score, but it was still an unfair battle as Team Rocket had them beat by numbers, nearly two to one.

At first, both sides were doing similarly well and similarly badly at the same time. Some pokemon fainted after a couple of blows; others were raging hard and competently taking advantage against their opponents. But with the smaller force of strength, Misty and her band were soon acting on defense, trying to block more attacks than to initiate them themselves. And in the mayhem, humans were not immune to accidental attacks hitting them. Several members on both sides gained burns, bruises, and cuts from passing bouts.

"Starmie, use blizzard!" Misty cried. The ice pellets hit Butch's Fearow and knocked it down. Then unexpectedly, a pokeball fell to the ground by Misty's side and opened of its own accord. Out popped Psyduck into the fray. "No! What on earth are you thinking, Psyduck? Get back here!" Misty tried to recall it angrily, but the yellow duck ran away from her and out of her sight. "Psyduck!" Misty screamed, but it was no use.

"Misty!" shouted Jenny bringing her back to attention.

Misty turned in time to avoid being hit by a rampant electric attack. She wanted to retrieve her Psyduck, but she realized she couldn't spend an ounce of concentration on it anymore if she hoped to get out of here alive. She ordered two more attacks for Starmie, who was now fighting Butch's Raticate, and another attack for Horsea, who she had up against Jessie's Arbok.

Psyduck wandered over to the outer limits of what would have been the circle if it wasn't in utter chaos. Somehow it made it passed the scruff and shuffle of humans and pokemon alike, and found itself next to a cage that had been left unattended on the ground. Meowth's eyes stared back at it through the bars, revealing his sense of helplessness in the situation.

"Psyduck!" said Psyduck. "Psy!"

Meowth suddenly had tears of gratitude streaming down his face. "Really? Oh Psyduck! I'm countin' on ya!"

The duck pokemon began to hack at one of the locks on the outside of Meowth's cage, and Meowth, with newfound encouragement, tried to pick at the other. Neither were fairing very well, but there was nothing else to be done.

Misty gasped as she brushed up against someone while she backed up. It was Officer Jenny. The two girls and their group were now feeling very much cornered and nearing their last resorts. Jenny decided to take this stance and told the others to prepare for her attack, get their pokemon to take temporary cover.

"Haunter! It's time!" Jenny bellowed above the noise. There was a slight note of regret to her voice as she gave her command.

Her pokemon complied immediately, not even giving her a second glance, it used self-destruct. The explosion wiped out a good amount of Team Rocket's pokemon, as well as sending several humans, Team Rocket and kidnapped citizens alike, to the ground in its quake. Following this attack was a momentary pause to the battle, and the room grew quiet.

"Come back here, you little twerp!"

The voice echoed from above and many heads turned in its direction.

From the landing one floor up, a figure appeared and hopped over the railing in one fluid motion. As it fell, it released a pokeball, and the Muk that came out acted as a pillow for its master. Ash looked to be in terrible shape. There was fresh blood dripping from his nose, an eye darkening to a brownish-green tint, scrapes on his knees visible through a new tear in his jeans, bruised arms, and a dried blood trail from the right side of his lower lip. He walked forwards with a slight limp, also on his right side. But he was smirking in triumph.

Behind him, Mark emerged on the balcony, his bruised hands gripping tightly to the railing. His eyes were fierce and his hair on end. His clothes were wet and he looked very displeased. Displeased is an understatement. Mark was pissed off.

"Don't you walk away from me, boy!" he yelled. "I'm going to hurt you so bad you'll wish you were never born!"

"Oh right, like that's going to make me want to come back and fight you!" Ash shouted back, turning with a slight swagger, around again to face him. "Tch, besides, I've already beat you twice now, do you really want to set yourself up for a third defeat?"

"You leave the rat out of this and fight me like a man, and then we'll see who the real loser is!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," interrupted Giovanni. "Perhaps I could be of assistance in settling this matter?"

The two guys turned to face the Boss, aware now of all the people in the room staring at them. Mark headed swiftly towards a ladder and slid down it like a pole to settle himself on the landing with everyone else.

Ash lifted his head slightly, eyes meeting with Giovanni's. He set his jaw in defiance. But in his mind, he was racing quickly through the fight he'd just come from and his escape.

_Mark kicked at the painful spot in Ash's stomach again and Ash grunted out in pain. He had to rely on instinct to get him out of this, so when Mark's hand reached down once more to send another blow to his head, Ash twisted to the side and pulled Mark towards him, biting onto Mark's upper arm. Mark screamed in incredulity and momentarily lost his balance. Ash used this opportunity to grab a pokeball from his belt. He rolled it outwards and it opened in a short blinding light. _

"_Totodile!" exclaimed the water type advancing towards its master in a little dance._

Yes, _thought Ash. _

"_Help Pikachu!" Ash stammered before Mark began to strangle him. The two guys were in a heap on the floor, and Mark was clearly dominating after a few moments._

_A little reluctantly, Totodile turned away from its master and sought out Pikachu. Discovering the mouse in the grips of the Onix, Totodile sent a water gun to scare off the beast. The tactic worked as Onix released Pikachu, focusing now on the small blue pokemon in front of it. Totodile used a hydro pump to wipe Onix out and Onix was weakened dramatically. Totodile then used a slam attack to finish the battle and Onix fainted at last._

"_Pika," Pikachu thanked feebly. It was injured, but it soon stood up again and headed back to the other end of the room where Ash was._

_Totodile took the lead and sprayed some water on Mark to get him off of Ash._

"_Ack!" Mark hollered in surprise._

_Pikachu stepped up and sent a thundershock to Mark, hitting him in the chest briefly, setting his hair on end. Ash used the distraction to recall Totodile and to get up. He started to race to the door. Pikachu used another electric attack, this one stronger than the last, on Mark. Mark collapsed and Pikachu bolted towards Ash, hopping up and onto his shoulder as they left the room._

_Mark lay there for a few seconds before regaining his senses and jumping up to chase the kid and his Pikachu._

"Your determination is really something, isn't it?" Giovanni questioned Ash.

"Yeah, I suppose it is!" Ash retorted.

"I can see that," Giovanni continued in a neutral tone. "You break in here and get caught skulking around in my labs. You escape and return to trespass a second time, this time with a band of people. You anger one of the top scientists on this team. And here you stand, yet again confronting me on my own turf.

"You think you understand the way the world works," Giovanni continued. "And you think that you can set things right. As if you could mold the world to your ideals without truly enforcing them. We're alike, you and I. But I have more sense, more knowledge, and far more experience than you. I have the means and the power to get what I want, to make _my_ ideals a reality."

The Boss Rocket paused to look at the boy. "I suppose you haven't a clue of what I am talking about. Never mind then. If it is a battle you want, I should prove to be a challenging match."

"Now you're talking!" Ash exclaimed.

"No, Ash!" called Misty from across the floor. "You're hurt! Let us battle him for you!"

"I can take care of myself!" Ash yelled back in annoyance.

"I'm only trying to look out for –" but she was cut off by the loud bang of an attack.

Alakazam had used metronome which turned into a rockslide on Noctowl. Noctowl passed out and Ash sent out Totodile. Totodile's hydropump did some good damage on Alakazam, and after a few more passes between the two pokemon, Totodile won. Giovanni sent out Persian. Totodile waited expectedly for Persian's strike. The quick cat type performed a thunderbolt attack and knocked out Totodile in one hit. Ash sent out Muk to take its place. But before the battle continued, the Boss began to laugh.

"Wonderful, wonderful. I see you are well-trained. However, I must take a break here to present to you – _all_ of you – my latest creation."

He motioned for someone to step forwards. From the back of the crowd emerged Bernard, with Black perched upon his shoulder. Black hopped down and pattered on all fours towards Giovanni. As he approached the Boss he reared up onto his two hind legs and walked on them as if human, looking quite familiarly like Meowth normally did.

"Would you care to introduce yourself?" Giovanni asked the dark meowth.

With a slight nod, the pokemon opened its mouth. "Hello. My name is Black," it spoke with a nasally voice, the same voice that Ash and his group had heard leaving from the lab with Bernard. "Yes, I can speak. An ability I was gifted with. I have many more unexpected abilities, you'll soon come to realize, whether before or after you discover that I am your worst nightmare. Don't underestimate my stature. I have been trained and taught and programmed to be the ultimate pokemon, and according to all I know, Team Rocket has succeeded in that endeavor. But I am willing to test my skills, and so does the Team want to see what I can do. Send out your best pokemon, and let's see where this leads."

"Ok, Black," answered Ash. "Hope you're ready for Pikachu!"

Pikachu, slightly rested up, scurried over to Black and administered a thunder attack. Black used reflect and deflected the attack. It then used crunch and knocked out Pikachu. The dark type attacks were part of its strength.

Misty and the others reacted soon after that, all of them taking up the challenge to send out a pokemon against Black. Black defeated each like it was swatting flies out of its face. It wasn't a dark type, and yet it was powerful in dark attacks. It also had the abilities of thunderbolt and bubblebeam, which proved useful against a few of its opponents. But what made Black really powerful was the amount of stamina it had. Hits that could defeat most pokemon at Black's level (which still wasn't even high enough to evolve yet), barely put a dent into Black's abnormally large hit point counter. Black was fueled with a lot of reserve energy, and its strength and speed were also to be commended.

After winning against most of the pokemon, Black used a psychic attack on the humans, wanting to see what would happen. They were taken by surprise and thrown backwards on the ground. Misty coughed as Jenny landed on top of her.

"No!" Ash shouted running towards the group, but before he reached them, another unexpected act occurred. Meowth jumped out, freed at last from his cage, and pounced on Black. The two rolled around as in a cat fight, scratching and hissing, then Meowth said, "Tink about what you're doin', Black! We don't attack humans! I know bedder dan most what a pain dey can be, even how cruel dey can be, but I also know dat dey can be good friends too! Dey're pretty stupid, when you get right down to it. But youse shouldn't hurt dem for dat!"

"Don't mess with things you don't understand, Meowth!" Black replied.

"You're right. I don't understand. I don't understand why you're takin' orders from dis chump! Didn't you learn anyting from da time you spent in da lab with me? Don't you realize dat dey don't care about you? Dat dey'd radder destroy who you are just to get what dey want?"

"Who I am…" Black muttered. He stepped back, away from Meowth and began to speak again, quietly at first, but gradually gaining volume until the entire hushed room was listening to his every word.

"I am power. Power is all that matters in the world. I can take what I want, do what I want when I want, have my orders obeyed, and the world bowing down at my feet. Everyone will fear me and bend to my command, for I could hurt them before the thought even enters my mind. Pain, suffering, death, misery. All that, do I control. I can work in stealth. I can deceive with my ability of speech. I can disguise by returning to the ground, ready to pounce, as a _mere pokemon_. The world will discover how untrue that term is, for I am more, much, much more than any pokemon or human in existence. Under Giovanni's rule do I mold the world to my wishes. That is what I am, what is expected of me. Power is Black."

Everyone stood in a stunned silence. No one moved a fraction, let alone breathed. Black broke the frozen spell to address the room once again, now with his red eyes upon the Boss.

"But, you forgot one thing, dear Giovanni, when you programmed me. You are correct that I do not feel a thing, I am incapable of any emotion – emotion is quite incomprehensible – and though my thoughts are limited to power and to strength and to strategy, you left a flaw within me, which may end up in your own undoing. I do not question much, but you allowed me enough free thought to plan, to strategize for you, to learn and react quickly in tough battles that I have yet to experience. This minor detail, important though it is to your plans and to my capabilities, has left me questioning my purpose, to a certain extent. As you told me in training, and I just repeated, _I can take what I want, do what I want when I want, have my orders obeyed and the world bowing down at my feet. Under your rule I mold the world to my wishes._ The question is, what is it that I want? What are my wishes? How could you be so careless as to create an all-powerful being such as myself and forget to include these ideals? I have learned from another that personality is important to being who you are. Who, exactly, am I?"

A dark look temporarily graced Giovanni's features, but a moment later they were wiped away, his face impassive as glass. Attention still on Black, the cat continued.

"Am I a minion with extraordinary powers expected to obey a weak human who thinks he owns the world? How can I have the ability to take anything I want and not know what I want to take? I am a danger to all who come in contact with me. I can kill them in an instant. But what difference would it make if they were alive or dead? I do not understand fear, and therefore, I see no disparity between life and death. Existence doesn't matter at all. Thinking doesn't make a difference. But I am thinking and I am aware of that. How can it be that you left such a flaw in me when you aimed to make me perfect? I am perfect to you in every way you imagined possible, except that I have no inclination to do anything at all, no intention to harness any of my power. I could die right now and none of it would matter."

The black meowth seemed to gain frustration, working its way outwards from himself into his composure and tone of voice. He went on.

"What is this that I sense? The word comes to me… curiosity. What is this, this… it cannot be… this emotion? I cannot feel and yet I feel curious. I need to understand what it means to question. Is that what it is? To have a personality? Was Meowth right in saying that your personality is the most important thing in the world, the most important trait you can possess? Why on earth was I created as such? Lacking personality, but excelling in thought and strength… and power… Why was I conceived without being prepared to be completely perfect, completely obedient, yet able to make some choices for myself to conquer the world for you? I have been given the capability of those choices, but now given the chance to make those choices I do not know what to decide. What purpose is there in life that cannot be achieved in death? What purpose is there to destroying the world and making it your own? Why can I think and question like this and yet continue to have no desire for anything except an explanation? I know from the knowledge implanted in me that these questions are the signs for a personality, the signs for emotions, yet I continue to feel nothing at all. _Must you all be standing there, staring dumbly at me without any direction towards a course of action?_ I have weakened myself by contemplating things beyond my reach and yet you still haven't made any attempt to defeat me, although you should, knowing the amount of power I have, that you should be soon at my mercy… a mercy which I have yet to choose, yet to understand…"

"Black…" Ash stepped forward wanting to answer, but Officer Jenny beat him to it.

"You are a living creature, Black, and I don't want to hurt you. I _choose_ not to. Make the right decision and turn away from your creators. They do not own you or control you. The moment you were able to think and act on your own, you took your own life, your own decisions, your own thoughts and feelings into your hand. It may take some time, but you will be able to feel and to find your own personality."

"A lot of people in this world don't really know who they are," Ash added. "All of us are searching for our purposes in life, and we never really know where we're headed, just that we are headed somewhere. We're constantly changing and evolving into better people, and we always need to return to that question, 'who are we?' We need to redefine it often."

Misty took a steadying breath and spoke her thoughts as well. "Life has so much potential. We don't know much about death and that is why we fear it. But while we are here we hope to make the best of it, make every moment count, make all of it feel worth it in our minds, give our lives some meaning. That meaning is derived from our own views on life, our own values and ideals. Black, you are capable of having this type of life. All you have to do is choose it."

When Misty's voice died down, there was a moment of uncertainty, a moment of stillness. Then, echoing around the chamber, the clapping of Giovanni's hands and the click of his shoes as he began to walk.

"Bravo, for that little speech making. Bravo everyone," he said humorlessly. It was clear he was not happy with the display. "But now time's being wasted and we really must get back to work. Officer, am I correct in assuming you will not join me without force?" He didn't wait for her to reply, or even to nod. "Then that leaves me no choice. Since I can't get you to cooperate, I'll just have to have you destroyed."

Giovanni returned his attention to Black, eyes glaring threateningly at the dark pokemon. But before he issued any sort of command, a small scream reverberated off the walls. One of the kidnapped citizens had fallen to the floor, and was twisting in agony. The potion's effect was obviously wearing off – they still hadn't been able to perfect it. An instant later, two more slaves followed suit, one landing face down and tearing at the floor with their hands as if it could stop the pain, the other curled up in a ball, rocking slightly back and forth and muttering incoherently.

Giovanni's composure started to slip rapidly. In an attempt to regain the advantage, he ordered, "Black! Now's the time to test your murdering techniques. Kill the group of trespassers!"

Black flinched. A second passed, then two. Twenty. He didn't budge. Within him raged a battle – follow orders, as he had been taught, or make a choice for himself? The indecision consumed him and Giovanni realized that he was losing. All was not lost yet, though, and to push Black over the edge, to fully initiate his dark side, Giovanni reached inside his coat pocket and drew a gun, pointing it at the nearest to him – Meowth.

"Come on, Black, we'll do it together," Giovanni said, somewhat taunting. "Pick one of our enemies, and I'll pull this trigger the same time as you attack."

"No."

The word escaped Black's mouth before he even considered it.

Giovanni began to cackle. Everyone was tense, watching him.

"I'm afraid you're right, Black. I made a mistake. A terrible mistake." His smile faded as quickly as it had come. "This whole operation is falling apart and it's too late to fix. So that means there's only one thing left to do."

Black anticipated it before anyone else understood. The gun went off in a bang and Meowth yelped. He was ducking, paws on ears, but no bullet pierced him. Black had saved him, and disintegrated the bullet in a hyper beam attack. But the attack was cut short, so fast that everyone missed it, and Black lay writhing on the floor, like the now several citizens and minions who were breaking free from the potion. Except his pain was worse.

In his hand, Giovanni held up what appeared to be a remote control. His face was contorted with anger and he spat, "This is what you deserve for disobeying me!"

"What are you doing to him?" Ash yelled in disgust.

"Oh this? It was meant as a last resort, and I certainly hadn't anticipated needing to use it anytime soon," Giovanni answered. "I had my scientists implant within Black several capsules of nano-bots – tiny probes that upon pressing this button would release themselves, and destroy Black, from the inside out! Call it his 'self-destruct' sequence, if you will. They were perfectly harmless otherwise."

"No!" gasped Jenny.

"Stop it!" shouted Misty. "Reverse it! Turn it back around, you _monster_!"

Giovanni laughed bitterly, and said, "I can't. Once initiated, the nano-bots won't stop until there are no more living cells to pray off of."

Misty whipped her head back around to stare at Black, tears beginning to blur her vision. The cat's initial shrieks of pain were subsiding, and his convulsions were slowing down. Water leaked from the side of his half-closed crimson eyes and his grey tail twitched. And two breaths later, he moved no more.

Ash squeezed his fingers into the palm of his hands in outrage. The poor black meowth hadn't even been comforted in his dying moments, his short life taken so quickly, and so violently. But before words could find their way onto his tongue, Ash felt an entirely different sensation brush by him, as if Black's spirit whispered to him, _I was not afraid_.

Suddenly, motion stirred all around the room. The Team Rocket Boss and top scientists and members ran the length of the chamber, heading towards an exit. With most of their minions and captured citizens lying on the ground useless and spluttering, they realized that they were outnumbered, and that now they must flee. Before they made it up to the next landing, however, they met with an unpleasant surprise. Jenny's back-up patrol had finally arrived from the next town over and were charging down the stairs. The Boss and his followers split up to find different routes of escape. Ash, Misty, and the town citizens who had come with them stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed by everything that had just occurred in the last few minutes and trying to grasp what was going on, not comprehending anything anymore.


	11. The Price of Freedom

AN – Wow. This is the first story that is this long that I have ever finished. Welcome to the last chapter. I'm satisfied with the way it turned out, and I'm amazed with myself for being able to create such a thing – it _is_ possible for me to write a chapter-fic. I want to thank all you readers for the wonderful journey we went on through this story, and I hope that you enjoyed it. Take care and happy reading!

-(-)-

Black

Chapter 10: The Price of Freedom

_It was a sunny day and a light breeze brushed through the trees of the forest. Everything seemed calm and quiet as if there wasn't a care in the world. But in this forest, three excited and anxious voices were discussing preparations for a dangerous and unacceptable act about to be committed._

"_We've really done it this time guys," said Meowth. "Dis is da best plan we've evah had!"_

_Sitting between the three was an outline for a weapon of some sort. It appeared to involve explosives._

"_I know! It's unbelievable!" James exclaimed._

"_It's not that unbelievable," argued Jessie. "We were bound to come up with something good after all these years!"_

"_But something dis good – I mean, I agree wid ya, Jess, it's just, sometin' ain't right!" _

"_I suppose we did have a little help, and we also used all the knowledge we have to put it together, if you're saying that's not right, I understand, but all-in-all I think that for once we got something right. Don't fret about it."_

_She was thinking back to how the plan came to be. When they were passing through a town a little while ago, there was some sort of festival going on. There was dancing and fireworks and music. Her teammates and she had found themselves taken in by the celebration and only reflected later that they'd missed the perfect opportunity to do some thieving. That is where the concept was born. Why not create a weapon that became the ultimate distraction? While everyone was looking the other way, they could sneak in, do their business, and be gone with large bags of goods. They decided upon fireworks, but not just any type of fireworks, ones that would be enticing to more than just the eyes. They thought there must be a way to make each explosion create a melody, create music, lure people outside by its uniqueness. During their journey for the next few weeks, they found people along the way who could help them figure out how to construct such a thing. Of course, at those times they were pretending to be traveling actors and held back from doing any blatant illegal activity. Not only did they succeed in creating plans for such a weapon, but they were lucky to gain free meals and good hospitality as they went by. _

_James suddenly let out a tiny yelp._

"_What's wrong, James?" said Jessie exasperatedly._

"_The – the twerps! They're coming this way!"_

"_Darn! We haven't had enough time to set up our plan. It can wait though, we'll just have to try and catch Pikachu the old-fashioned way now!" Jessie led her friends up a tree, ready to pounce on the kids headed towards them._

A couple of children raced by, giggling as they played some game of tag. But Meowth didn't notice them even though he stared in their direction. He was deep in thought, reflecting the recent events. He sat on a bench outside the police building, in the center of the town which was recovering from the attack and kidnapping. He was waiting for the authorities to finish their inquiry, for the freedom that an afternoon on this sunny day could bring… or perhaps he waited for a freedom greater than that… freedom of thought, freedom of emotion, freedom from the guilt and pang in his heart for having lost his new friend…

"Hey, buddy," a soft voice spoke next to him as a large figure sat down. "How's it going?"

"It's alright, I guess," Meowth replied. "How're you doin', Jimmy?"

"To be honest, I don't know. These last few days have been a blur… a nightmare of a blur… but I feel like I'm waking up and I've never been more content in my life." Then as an afterthought, "And Jessie's been by my side since we regained consciousness. I actually think they were harder on her than on me…" James trailed off, a touch of darkness to his tone. "I hope that there isn't any lasting damage."

The sun's light was temporarily covered by a shadow as a cloud passed overhead. The two sat in quiet companionship and felt a light breeze brush by them. Then, regaining light, the sun emerged and the doors to the police department opened once again. Jessie, Cassidy, Butch, two Officer Jenny's, Officer Michael, Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock all walked out into the sun's glare.

"Are you sure? I mean, after what they did? Especially to you," Jessie was saying. "I can't believe you."

"What choice do I have, Jess? In the end, it's been the highest paying job I've ever had… well, at least when we weren't messing up," answered Cassidy. "Though, if memory serves me correctly, you had a hand in hampering our plans," she added with a smirk.

"You're welcome," Jessie said, grinning. "Those were the only times since we met the twerp that we succeeded at something."

"Well, you two certainly seem to be getting along," noted James, standing up. "Friends again?"

The two girls merely looked at him, smiles on their faces and glints in their eyes, not saying anything. But that was good enough confirmation for James, and he remarked, "About time."

"But, Officer, they were victims, too." In another conversation, Ash was arguing with one Officer Jenny. "Isn't there some way…?"

"We can't turn a blind eye to the law whenever we feel like it. We're _all_ supposed to obey it, even us on the police force, whether or not we think it is fair."

"But, the lawyers might be able to lessen the charges," said the other Jenny. "And I'll put in a good word for them… that stuff was horrible… and the way it took control…" she tapered off staring away now, remembering her experience from the previous day.

Slowly, all discussions stopped and everyone turned to face each other, the warmth of the sun heating up their faces. It had been a bit of a struggle when the back-up force had arrived, and many of the highest ranked Rockets had gotten away, including Giovanni. Mark, on the other hand, had been caught and was currently in lock-up waiting for a transfer and a trial. All the kidnapped citizens and the drugged Rockets had recovered from the 'potion', thanks to the quick work of a medical team, and also Nurse Joy's input. Some were lucky enough even to not suffer the biological battle that occurred when they regained consciousness, unlike the times that Jessie had done earlier in the week – the medical team had found a way to avoid that reaction by using their antidote as soon as it was created (with the help from Sherman's notes and lab reports left behind). They added to their medicine a compound that would enhance white and red blood cell production for a period of 24 hours, as well, so to assist each victim's body in its own self-recovery.

And this afternoon, the group that stood in a circle outside the police station enjoying the open air, were there to discuss the fate of the Rockets who had been used in the experiment.

"There is one other option," spoke up Officer Michael. "They could do some community service and agree to be monitored for a couple of months, as if on parole."

"But it would still have to go through the courts," said Jenny.

Butch sighed. "Officers, we're criminals, and we know it. It's just who we are. Cuff us now and take us to jail, we know we belong there."

"But you guys were _used_!" blurted out Misty, incredulously. "Not even _you_ deserved to go through what you did!"

Butch faced her and said seriously, "Me and Cass were the ones who came up with the idea to turn Team Rocket's lowest into perfect little drones. I guess we had it coming back around to haunt us."

Misty became speechless to that answer.

"And besides," said Cassidy. "I think we're going to go back to Team Rocket, anyways. We'll end up there somehow or other. No one's gonna want to hire us with our criminal records, and we'll be starving like before, needing a way to earn cash. Plus, the attempt at the steal's what makes it fun!"

"What about you guys?" Ash asked, indicating Jessie, James and Meowth. "Are you guys going to go back to Team Rocket too?"

"Not on your life, kid," Meowth replied immediately. "I woulda been stuck in dat cage till I died if Psyduck hadn't rescued me! Dey didn't give a damn about me. And dey didn't give a damn about Black, eidder…"

"We're more than teammates, we're friends. I'm going to go wherever Jessie and Meowth decide," was James's answer.

All eyes turned to Jessie. "As I was saying to Cass, I didn't appreciate the way they treated us. I remember waking up some times barely able to acknowledge who I was… I want respect, and well, I know it's going to be hard, especially since stealing _is _a way of life, but, I want out too. James, Meowth, let's leave Team Rocket and never turn back."

They nodded, James with a huge smile glowing on his face as he gazed at Jessie. She blushed after a moment noticing his praising look.

There was a hesitation after this. Then Brock voiced his opinions.

"Officers, Team Rocket – I mean – Jessie, James, and Meowth are sort of like friends to us. We all know each other very well. And they haven't _actually_ stolen anything in ages. Besides, they usually just try to steal Pikachu from Ash… call it more of a game. I don't think Ash is going to press charges."

Ash shook his head in agreement.

Jenny sighed. "Alright. Have it your way. I think that we can work that. But you three had better swear to not involve yourselves in any more criminal activities, understand?"

"You're letting us go?" James asked, surprised.

"Yes," came the response.

"We swear, Officer Jenny, we won't get inta trouble!" Meowth answered for the group, all three of them concealing half-smirks that they felt rising up within them for the freedom, the true freedom, they'd just gained. "I'm sure da skills we've used in da past to trick people will come in handy when we actually use dem to make a livin'. We could open a restaurant, or join a news crew, or sometin'… don't worry about us!"

"Well, since we aren't needed anymore, we'll be seeing you around!" exclaimed Jessie, and her trio began to walk. As she passed Ash, she whispered from the corner of her mouth, "Pikachu gets a head start. We'll be dropping by some time in the next few days to continue our 'game', have fun!"

Ash was a bit startled by this, but he smiled and waved them goodbye with the others. Those three really did have big hearts when it came down to it. He knew they'd only be chasing him out of habit, and as Jessie had said, stealing was a way of life. It would take them a while to adjust to the change, and as they did so, they could harmlessly attempt to capture Pikachu every now and then. He wondered if they wouldn't even hand him back Pikachu if they succeeded.

Ash turned around to see Officer Jenny and Officer Michael handcuffing Butch and Cassidy. The two Rockets smiled, with a somewhat lingering sadness in their eyes.

"You guys going to be ok in jail?" Misty asked tentatively.

"We'll be great," stated Butch. "It's not like we haven't been there before, and – no offense to your security measures and defense skills Officers – it probably won't be long till we break outta there anyway."

"And a jail is so much more liberating than the 'potion' that ripped our minds from our bodies," Cassidy added. "We're not going somewhere where we'll be trapped. We're going to freedom. And hey, being in the hands of the law will give us a break from Team Rocket. Call it a 'vacation'."

Misty smiled sadly to them as they were taken back inside the police building. Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and the other Officer Jenny were still there with her.

"I want to thank you kids," Jenny spoke. "Without you, we wouldn't have been able to save everyone that we did. It was really a brave thing of you all to go through that. Oh, and Haunter also acknowledges your help. He's been treated and is back to perfect health, by the way."

The kids muttered some approving replies and Jenny left for inside as well.

Mindlessly runny a hand over his bandaged and bruised arm, Ash got lost in thought. Everything that had happened seemed to take so long at the time, now flashed by in images in a rush. One memory suddenly stood out to him, as he thought of the Boss Rocket. _"You'll see it from my point of view one day."_ Confused about the Boss's attitude towards him, Ash contemplated it a little more, to no success in comprehending. Then, he let it slide by him, with everything, ready to move on, perhaps get a start on his next adventure.

"Well, it's over, I guess," said Misty. "You good, Brock?"

"Never better!" he stated cheerfully. "They treated me right away and I didn't feel a thing! It was like I'd had a nap and woken up to find a goddess leaning over me, checking that I was alright… ah… so lovely…"

Misty sighed shaking her head, exasperated and relieved at the same time.

"Ready to go?" Ash piped up.

"Yah," answered Misty. "Where're we headed?"

"Dunno, don't care. Just as long as we leave this town and get out in the field again, I'm all good," Ash said happily. "And, I wouldn't say no to a battle, either."

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, and the four of them headed out of the town, following a path in the direction of the sun.

"_I suppose we did have a little help, and we also used all the knowledge we have to put it together, if you're saying that's not right, I understand, but all-in-all I think that for once we got something right. Don't fret about it."_

Jessie, James, and Meowth walked along, hearts, minds, and souls feeling lighter than they had in years. They had stopped on the town's edge before leaving to hold a little ceremony and say a few words for Black. Meowth was especially grateful to the other cat for the sacrifice he'd made, and he would never forget it, as long as he lived. After their ceremony, they left. They spent some time discussing what their futures would look like. They weren't ever going to go back to Team Rocket, and some serious lifestyle changes were needed. At one point, they thought of planning their next Pikachu capture attempt, but they weren't really into it. And then they wondered what had happened to the brilliant idea they had had, to use fireworks and music in combination. But because of the blur of the past few days, they concluded that it was all a dream, never having come up with something that great. However, it gave them an idea – being traveling actors did sound like fun, even if it was just a start-up for a little while.

Meowth was the only one who knew the truth. And he wasn't going to share it with his friends. The plan they had was successfully created by the scientists who stole it, and it had been transformed into something far more devastating than the distraction it was meant to be. They didn't need to know.

The trio's conversation changed into idle chat. At the moment, they wanted nothing better than to enjoy each second for what it was, forget the past, forget the future, and just exist. If their encounter with Black had taught them anything it was that life was short, you always had a choice, and it was worth it to spend your time doing something you loved instead of living for the paycheck. The sun was setting, but the darkness of the coming night was not an enemy; it was the beginning of a new life for each of them.

-(-)-

_Fin_

-)Golden Lunar Eclipse(-


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